{"id":3345,"date":"2025-10-17T11:35:50","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T11:35:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2025\/10\/17\/will-gaza-ceasefire-change-south-africas-icj-genocide-case-against-israel\/"},"modified":"2025-10-17T11:35:50","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T11:35:50","slug":"will-gaza-ceasefire-change-south-africas-icj-genocide-case-against-israel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2025\/10\/17\/will-gaza-ceasefire-change-south-africas-icj-genocide-case-against-israel\/","title":{"rendered":"Will Gaza ceasefire change South Africa\u2019s ICJ genocide case against Israel?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>A week since the ceasefire in Gaza came into effect, tens of thousands of Palestinians are returning to the flattened rubble of the places they once called home. As they return, there is worry among prominent voices in South Africa \u2013 one of Palestine\u2019s fiercest supporters \u2013 that the agreement may not lead to a meaningful and permanent peace.<\/p>\n<p>It was just months into the war on Gaza in 2023, when South Africa made history by becoming the first country to take Israel to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2023\/12\/29\/south-africa-files-case-at-icj-accusing-israel-of-genocidal-acts-in-gaza\">charges of genocide<\/a>. That move reflected the hopes of thousands of Palestine supporters in South Africa and across the continent, as two million people suffered under bombardment in Gaza.<\/p>\n<section>\n<h2>Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n<p><span>list of 3 items<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span>list 1 of 3<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/8\/27\/why-icj-judge-sebutinde-faces-calls-to-quit-from-israel-genocide-case\">Why ICJ Judge Sebutinde faces calls to quit from Israel genocide case<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 2 of 3<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/9\/20\/brazil-joins-south-africas-genocide-case-against-israel-at-icj\">Brazil joins South Africa\u2019s \u2018genocide\u2019 case against Israel at ICJ<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 3 of 3<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/10\/8\/legal-scholars-genocide-label-crucial-in-addressing-atrocities-in-gaza\">Genocide label crucial in addressing atrocities in Gaza: Legal scholars<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>Last week, after more than two years of war, which killed at least 67,967 Palestinians, relief spread in Gaza and around the world as United States President Donald Trump\u2019s peace plan was agreed to by Israel and Hamas. But in South Africa, the government and its supporters have promised to continue pressuring Israel for accountability over crimes inflicted on Palestinians.<\/p>\n<p>There is a need to scrutinise the US\u2019s<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>peace plan, Naledi Pandor, South Africa\u2019s former foreign minister under whom the ICJ case was filed in December 2023, told Al Jazeera, as it is important to make sure Israel answers in court for the Gaza war, and several other violations.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe ceasefire is a welcome step because, of course, we want to end the killing,\u201d Pandor said. \u201cBut I\u2019m concerned because the struggle of the people of Palestine is about much more than the war that has been under way, [and] this genocide of the past [two years].\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Palestinians are \u201cstriving for self-determination, freedom, and justice\u201d, she said, speaking in a personal capacity after retiring from government service last year. \u201cI don\u2019t think the ceasefire addresses the core issues relevant to the struggle of the Palestinian people,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI believe the [ICJ] case must continue,\u201d Pandor continued, highlighting the examples of past genocides. \u201cWe should, as we acted with Rwanda and Bosnia, ensure that perpetrators of war crimes are held to account. That is what we owe those who lost their lives in Gaza and other parts of Palestine.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pandor\u2019s words echo the official South African stance. President Cyril Ramaphosa, speaking to politicians in Cape Town on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/10\/14\/south-africa-says-icj-genocide-case-will-continue-despite-gaza-ceasefire\">Tuesday<\/a>, stressed his government\u2019s determination to bring the legal case to a proper close, one he said would bring \u201chealing\u201d for the Palestinians.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe peace deal that has been struck, which we welcome, will have no bearing on the case that is before the International Court of Justice,\u201d Ramaphosa said.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2650978\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2650978\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/AP24026443867867-1706271782.jpg?w=770&#038;resize=770%2C513&#038;quality=80\" alt=\"Pandor at the ICJ\" fetchpriority=\"low\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2650978\">South Africa\u2019s former foreign minister Naledi Pandor, centre, attends the session of the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, on January 26, 2024, during a case filed by South Africa accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza [Patrick Post\/AP Photo]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 id=\"south-africa-s-genocide-case-against-israel\">South Africa\u2019s genocide case against Israel<\/h2>\n<p>When some of South Africa\u2019s most renowned scholars arrived in The Hague to represent Palestine at the proceedings that began in January 2024, thousands of supporters stood outside the ICJ, holding up Palestinian flags. At the time, Western countries like the United Kingdom and France stood firmly by Israel, citing its right to defend itself. Both countries have since\u00a0adjusted their stance by challenging Israel\u2019s attacks on Gaza and even recognising the state of Palestine in September.<\/p>\n<p>South Africa\u2019s \u201cdream team,\u201d as the legal representatives at the ICJ were nicknamed by their supporters, included globally recognised law professor and apartheid critic John Dugard, senior counsel Max du Plessis, and barrister Adila Hassim, among others. In a lengthy presentation, they accused Israel of \u201cgenocidal acts\u201d in violation of the 1948 Genocide Convention but also of a \u201c75-year apartheid, a 56-year-occupation, and a 16-year blockade\u201d of Palestinian territories.<\/p>\n<p>Israel\u2019s team, led by British lawyer and experienced international court expert Malcolm Shaw and Australian-Israeli lawyer Tal Becker, argued that Israel had a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2024\/1\/12\/icj-genocide-case-what-are-israels-main-arguments\">right to defend itself<\/a> and that South Africa\u2019s genocide claims could not be substantiated.<\/p>\n<p>In its ruling in January 2024, the court found it \u201cplausible\u201d that Israel was violating the Genocide Convention, and ordered Israel to \u201ctake all measures to prevent\u201d genocide. Later, in March 2024, following more prompting by South Africa, the ICJ ordered Israel to ensure that food entered Gaza in the face of famine. Finally, in May 2024, the court issued a third order requiring Israel to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2024\/5\/25\/israel-continues-to-bomb-gaza-including-rafah-despite-icj-ruling\">halt attacks on Rafah<\/a>, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were sheltering at the time.<\/p>\n<p>Israel did not comply with the rulings in all three instances, rights groups Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch found. Still, the case had some ramifications for Israel, with Belgium\u2019s Wallonia regional government immediately suspending some weapon exports to the country, citing the court\u2019s interim rulings and deteriorating conditions in Gaza. Japanese trading firm Itochu also cut ties with Elbit Systems, an Israeli defence contractor, following the court\u2019s orders for Israel to halt the Rafah offensive.<\/p>\n<p>Experts say the most challenging task for the South African team will be to prove that Israel intended to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2024\/10\/28\/south-africas-legal-team-says-intent-is-clear-in-israels-gaza-genocide\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">commit genocide<\/a> in Gaza, a requirement that Pandor, who was also at The Hague last January, said the South African team has met. South Africa submitted a 500-page document detailing the evidence in October 2024. Israel\u2019s counterarguments are due on January 12, 2026. Oral hearings will be held in 2027, and a final judgement could be pronounced by late 2027 or early 2028, analysts say.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"discussion-of-accountability-absent\">Discussion of accountability absent<\/h2>\n<p>The International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) in August declared the Gaza war a genocide. It also <a href=\"https:\/\/genocidescholars.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IAGS-Resolution-on-Gaza-FINAL.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">noted<\/a> that Hamas\u2019s October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel, which led to the death of about 1,100 people and the capture of about 200 others, constituted \u201cinternational\u201d crimes.<\/p>\n<p>Melanie O\u2019Brien, president of the IAGS, told Al Jazeera that South Africa had \u201caccurately\u201d represented the Gaza case to the court. Legal proceedings like the ICJ case and an ongoing case against Israeli leaders at the International Criminal Court (ICC) are particularly important now, in light of the peace deal, she said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAccountability is crucial, and the discussion of accountability is very noticeably wholly absent from the ceasefire and peace talks and plan, which is shocking,\u201d O\u2019Brien said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat is being presented is a situation where there will supposedly be a ceasefire, and perhaps peace, but there is not even discussion, let alone mechanisms presented, about holding perpetrators of horrific crimes accountable,\u201d she added. \u201cAnd we know very well from history that if there is no accountability, there will be no reconciliation, and the cycle of violence will simply continue.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, the ceasefire itself, experts say, would have no impact on the ICJ\u2019s schedule, but it could help Israel\u2019s defence.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt may have an impact on the substantive arguments in the sense that Israel can seek to use these developments as evidence that it has not been acting with genocide intent,\u201d Mike Becker, a law professor at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3988446\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3988446\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/2025-09-27T140830Z_1623396561_RC2C0HA0OWBH_RTRMADP_3_ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS-SAFRICA-PROTEST-1758995984.jpg?w=770&#038;resize=770%2C538&#038;quality=80\" alt=\"Demonstrators hold Palestinian flags and placards as they walk past a statue of the late Nobel Peace Laureate, Archbishop Desmond Tutu during a protest to show support to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, in Cape Town, South Africa, September 27, 2025.\" fetchpriority=\"low\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3988446\">Demonstrators hold Palestinian flags and placards as they walk past a statue of the late Nobel Peace laureate, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, during a protest to show support for Palestinians in Gaza, in Cape Town, South Africa, on September 27, 2025 [Esa Alexander\/Reuters]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 id=\"south-africa-faces-us-backlash-for-icj-case\">South Africa faces US backlash for ICJ case<\/h2>\n<p>This year, South Africa has been in the crosshairs of Israel\u2019s biggest ally \u2013 the US \u2013 largely for its legal action against Israel.<\/p>\n<p>Relations between Washington and Pretoria have deteriorated to the lowest point in decades, analysts say, because of the ICJ case against Israel, as well as South Africa\u2019s close relationship with China and Russia \u2013 both US rivals \u2013 and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/features\/2025\/5\/15\/theyll-be-back-white-afrikaners-leave-south-africa-to-be-refugees-in-us\">false claims<\/a> by President Trump that a \u201cgenocide\u201d against white people is taking place in South Africa. Trump\u2019s administration has offered <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/features\/2025\/5\/15\/theyll-be-back-white-afrikaners-leave-south-africa-to-be-refugees-in-us\">asylum<\/a>\u00a0to dozens of white South Africans, a move analysts have called discriminatory as the US cracks down on other migrants.<\/p>\n<p>Trump imposed steep 30 percent tariffs on South Africa from August, specifically citing the ICJ case against Israel as one reason. South African manufacturers used to enjoy tariff-free exports to US markets under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) framework, but are now in precarious positions, with some 30,000 jobs at risk, according to analysis from Liechtenstein-based Geopolitical Intelligence Services (GIS). Some 9 percent of South African exports, ranging from precious metals to vehicles to fruits, go to the US every year, the intelligence firm found.<\/p>\n<p>Still, Pandor said South Africa\u2019s own history of apartheid meant that it had the \u201cmoral obligation\u201d to stand up for Palestinians in Gaza, despite the risk of upsetting others.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn pursuing our own struggle against apartheid South Africa, we were assisted by many different nations as well as organisations in civil society, so we regard the bonds of international solidarity as extremely important and we take international law seriously,\u201d Pandor said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe believed and continue to believe that great harm was under way, and that crimes against humanity and war crimes were being committed by the apartheid state of Israel. And that the people of Palestine and of Gaza at the time were in serious danger of elimination, and we felt that we could not be silent.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Apartheid in South Africa began collapsing in 1990 when political prisoner Nelson Mandela was freed, and ended in 1994 when the Black majority was allowed to vote for the first time. The late Mandela and late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat were <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/features\/2023\/12\/5\/unpack-the-past-mandela-the-keffiyeh-and-south-africas-palestine-embrace\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">especially close<\/a>, with Arafat welcoming the South African leader when he was freed from his 27-year imprisonment. In December 1997, while addressing foreign dignitaries in South Africa, Mandela <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mandela.gov.za\/mandela_speeches\/1997\/971204_palestinian.htm\">declared<\/a> the rallying cry that has since become a blueprint for the African National Congress-led government, saying: \u201cWe know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nearly two years after taking its first legal action against Israel, South Africa\u2019s most pressing goal at the time \u2013 to urgently end the killings in Gaza \u2013 has been achieved, although it took \u201cmany months and many lives\u201d, Pandor noted.<\/p>\n<p>The task now, she said, is to deliver what she called the core demands of Palestinians: self-determination, sovereignty, and justice.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know that the Palestinian people are hoping for much more than what appears on paper,\u201d Pandor said. \u201cThe world has somewhat lost its moral authority, and I think it\u2019s necessary to restore it. And I\u2019m actually proud that my country and our cabinet had the courage to stand up and actually take a stand in terms of international law and respect for human rights.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A week since the ceasefire in Gaza came into effect, tens of thousands of Palestinians are returning to the flattened rubble of the places they once called home. As they return, there is worry among prominent voices in South Africa \u2013 one of Palestine\u2019s fiercest supporters \u2013 that the agreement may not lead to a &#8230; <a title=\"Will Gaza ceasefire change South Africa\u2019s ICJ genocide case against Israel?\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2025\/10\/17\/will-gaza-ceasefire-change-south-africas-icj-genocide-case-against-israel\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Will Gaza ceasefire change South Africa\u2019s ICJ genocide case against Israel?\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3346,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3345","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3345","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3345"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3345\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}