- A few key quotes from South African Justice Minister Ronald Lamola’s opening statement at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Thursday. • “‘In extending our hands to the people of Palestine, we do so in full knowledge that we are part of a humanity.’ These were the words of our founding president Nelson Mandela; this is the spirit in which South Africa acceded to the convention on the prevention and punishment of the crime of genocide in 1998" • “In the Gaza Strip, at least since 2004, Israel continues to exercise control over the airspace, territorial waters, land crossings, water, electricity and civilian infrastructure, as well as key government functions” • “No armed attack on a state territory, no matter how serious, even an attack involving atrocity crimes can provide any justification for or defence to breaches to the Convention whether it’s a matter of law or morality. Israel’s response to October 7 attack has crossed this line and gives rise to the breaches of the convention” Lamola said that faced with the evidence and their duty, as contained in Article 1 of the Convention, the South African government initiated this case. “South Africa welcomes that Israel is engaged with the case in order to have the matter resolved by the court,” the justice minister continued. And as proceedings at the ICJ continued on Thursday, Professor Max du Plessis, a lawyer representing South Africa, made the following points: • Palestinians in Gaza, as a very substantial and important part of the Palestinian national, racial and ethnic group, simply, but profoundly, are entitled to exist • What is happening in Gaza now is not correctly framed as a simple conflict between two parties • It entails, instead, destructive acts perpetrated by an occupying power, Israel, that has subjected the Palestinian people to an oppressive and prolonged violation of their rights to self-determination for more than half a century • Those violations occur in a world where Israel, for years, regarded itself as beyond and above the law Du Plessis continued that UN bodies “have collectively considered the acts committed by Israel to be genocidal or at the very least warned that the Palestinian people [are] at risk of genocide.” “The violence and the destruction in Palestine and Israel did not begin on October 7, 2023.” - @middleeasteye