The Israeli Foreign Ministry criticized South Africa in response to the International Court of Justice case that South Africa brought forth accusing Israel of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
“Today we were witness to one of the greatest shows of hypocrisy in history, compounded by a series of false and baseless claims,” Lior Haiat, a spokesperson for the ministry, said on X, formerly Twitter.
Haiat accused South Africa of “functioning as the legal arm of the Hamas” and ignoring the massacre carried out by the militant group in Israel on October 7.
“South Africa seeks to allow Hamas to return to commit the war crimes,” Haiat claimed.
What South Africa argued: South Africa has “unequivocally condemned” Hamas attacks, Minister of Justice Ronald Lamola said in court. But, he said, the oppression of Palestinian people did not just begin following the Hamas attacks, arguing it has been ongoing for years. While discussing Israel’s air strikes in Gaza since October 7, one of South Africa’s representatives, Adila Hassim, said Palestinians in Gaza have “been killed if they have failed to evacuate, in the places to which they have fled, and even while they have attempted to flee along Israeli-declared safe routes.”
“Israel’s special genocidal intent is rooted in the belief that in fact the enemy is not just the military wing of Hamas, or indeed Hamas generally, but is embedded in the fabric of Palestinian life in Gaza,” said Tembeka Ngcukaitobi, another lawyer representing South Africa.
CNN
