Vusi Madonsela told the court during the public hearings that “these are not mere statistics Mr. President, they are flesh and blood of the Palestinian people.”

Israeli ‘defiance’ has already “led to the killing of tens of thousands of Palestinians, including an estimated 30,000 killed in the past four months alone.,” South Africa’s ambassador to the Netherlands told the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Tuesday.

Vusi Madonsela told the court during the public hearings that “these are not mere statistics Mr. President, they are flesh and blood of the Palestinian people.”

The ICJ began its hearings after UNGA Resolution 77/247 requested an advisory opinion from the ICJ on the legality of Israel’s policies and practices in the occupied Palestinian territories and the consequences of Israel’s conduct for other states and the UN.

‘Right to Survival’ 

Ambassador Madonsela recalled that the world has been witnessing in Gaza since October 7 “an assault that is unprecedented in speed and severity, violates the most basic precepts of the right to the survival of a population.”

Madonsela also criticized the international community for “unwillingness to hold Israel accountable for its policies and practices.”

Many countries are expected to present their views on the matter. South Africa, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, the Netherlands, Bangladesh and Belgium will present their arguments at Tuesday’s session.

South Africa's Ambassador to the Netherlands Vusi Madonsela tells the Hague that Israel is carrying out apartheid against the Palestinian people. pic.twitter.com/SwSBC4MJjD

— PoliticsJOE (@PoliticsJOE_UK) February 20, 2024

South Africa brought a genocide case against Israel to the ICJ in late December and asked it for emergency measures to end the bloodshed in Gaza, where more than 29,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 7.

The court in January ordered Israel to take “all measures within its power” to prevent acts of genocide in Gaza but fell short of ordering a cease-fire.

It also ordered Israel to take “immediate and effective” measures to enable the provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance in the Gaza Strip.

Despite international outcry, Israel now plans a ground invasion of Rafah, which holds around 1.4 million refugees.

Another Nakba 

According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 29,195 Palestinians have been killed, and 69,170 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7.

Moreover, at least 7,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip. 

Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.

The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.

(Anadolu, PC)