JOHANNESBURG – Minister of International Relations Naledi Pandor expects Israel to solely focus on Hamas’ surprise attack on October 2023, while ignoring the significant number of deaths of ordinary civilians it’s been responsible for.
This comes as Israel is due to present its case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Friday.
Pandor told Eyewitness News South Africa sent a legal team who put forward a credible and factual case before the court.
South Africa’s legal team has on Thursday addressed the court on its request for provisional measures to effectively halt Israel’s ongoing military operations in Gaza.
After the matter is finalised, South Africa ultimately wants Israel’s conduct to be found to be in breach of the Genocide Convention.
Though South Africa has condemned Hamas’s 7 October attack, Pandor said she believes Israel will have a tough time on Friday.
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“I think it’ll be difficult in the face of well-known deaths and atrocities, and significant harm to ordinary civilians,” Pandor said.
“It’s going to be very, very difficult to convince the world that this was purely an attempt to arrest and stop those who committed the attack of October 7th.”
Pandor also weighed in on the personal attacks that she faced throughout this period.
“This is without merit, entirely. I have always believed that insults are the last refuge of a scoundrel. To direct insults at myself and allegations of association with particular groups that are termed ‘terrorist groups’ is merely to attempt to besmirch my name and character and that is entirely without merit.”