South Africa Says Israel 'Acts With Impunity' In Gaza As U.N. Court Hearing Kicks Off
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The U.N.'s top court is hearing arguments about whether Israel has violated international law by blocking starving Palestinians from receiving aid.
South African officials said Tuesday that Israel “acts with impunity” in now-flattened Gaza, as the United Nations’ top court kicked off hearings in the case accusing Israel of violating international law by continuing to block Palestinians from receiving life-saving humanitarian aid.
The International Court of Justice is expected to hear arguments this week from at least 40 countries about whether Israel has failed to carry out its obligations as both an occupying power and a U.N. member state by refusing to allow and facilitate humanitarian assistance in war-torn Gaza. The U.N. General Assembly asked the ICJ last year to deliver an advisory opinion on the matter, which grew more urgent after Israel blocked all aid from entering the territory in March.
“Israel continues to act with impunity, as it does enjoy some form of exceptionalism from accountability to international law and norms,” South Africa’s representative Zane Dangor said Tuesday before the court. “Conversely, any person or entity which seeks to hold Israel to account for its inhumane and unlawful actions is subjected to countermeasures and censure, from which the United Nations and this court has not been spared.”
South Africa has a separate case before the ICJ accusing Israel of committing genocide against the Palestinian people. Those proceedings are ongoing, while human rights groups and a U.N. committee have since made similar conclusions. Both Israel and its primary supporter, the United States, have vehemently denied the accusation.
“Under the world’s watchful eye, Palestinians across the occupied Palestinian territories are being subjected to atrocity crimes, persecution, apartheid and genocide,” Dangor said. “While we watch, the gaze of Palestinians is directed squarely at the international community and this court, whose advice is urgently being sought for the protection of the most fundamental rights, including the right to life.”
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