Israel-Gaza: Palestinian Ambassador hails South Africa’s support, urges pro-Israel to review stance

Israel-Gaza: Palestinian Ambassador hails South Africa’s support, urges pro-Israel to review stance

Joel Oladele

Palestinian Ambassador to Nigeria, Abdullah Abu Shawesh has hailed South Africa (SA) for its firm stand against Israel in the ongoing war.

Addressing newsmen in a press conference titled’ “105 days of war against  Palestinians” in Abuja on Friday, Ambassador Shawesh urged also urged pro-Israel countries to have a review of their position.

National Periscope recalls that South Africa recently submitted to International Court of Justice (ICJ), an 84 pages document crammed with evidence that Israel is breaching its legal obligation under the 1984 International Genocide Convention, thus demanding justice for Palestinians.

“The Convention defines genocide as the acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.” This definition is wholly applicable to the Israeli political and military leaders’ ‘ declared positions, and which prove the intent and their military acts on the ground prove the Israeli government is violating and breaching the Convention,” Shawesh stated in his address

“The declaration of the Israeli Prime Minister reminded the Israeli population about the old Testament and of the carnage of Amalek and to “spare no one, but kill alike men and women, infants and sucklings.

The war minister Gallant vowed that “Gaza won’t return to what it was before – we will eliminate everything”. Also the Minister of Energy and Infrastructure pledged “they will not receive a drop of water or a single battery until they leave this world” The Envoy added.

Reacting to South Africa’s petition, Shawesh also said while they await the court’s decision, it is important for the world to prevail on Israel as a matter of urgency to stop the killings to protect the Palestinians.

“At the outset I would like to extend my sincere thanks to the political leaders and people of South Africa for their strong moral stance and for standing steadfastly in support of international law and justice by suing Israel for its genocide of the Palestinian people, the occupying power, before the United Nations International Court of Justice (UN ICJ).

 “In this regard, we also urge all countries that side with Israel’s acts of genocide and are neglecting to condemn Israel’s war crimes to acknowledge what is actually happening and to review their moral and legal position.

“Three things cannot be hidden for long: the sun, the moon, and the truth. The truth is that the behavior of the Israeli government is in fact forms of genocide against the Palestinian people.

“On January 11, the ICJ court listened first to South Africa and the following day to the lawyers representing the Israeli Occupation. We all know that discussing this case and issuing a final verdict may take many years to come, all with a lot of investigation.

“South Africa has brought the matter to the court as matter of extreme urgency and with a priority and stipulation to order Israel to halt and suspend its onslaught campaign in order to protect the Palestinian people and preserve the evidence.

“We expect to hear the decision in the coming days. We must wait until then to know whether the court is convinced by the evidence that SA presented. Israel verbally attacked SA and declared its position regarding the announcement by the Israeli Prime Minister that “we(Israel) will not stop the war regardless of the court decision.”  Shawesh said.

Speaking further, the Ambassador accused Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu of aiding the continuation of the war for his selfish interest.

“So far none of the Israeli leaders have mentioned a proportionate response. They still insist and threaten that this war will continue during 2024, and this means more thousands of innocent Palestinians are on their way to their graves.

“At the time of completely failing to achieve any of the two main goals of the war, the Israeli Prime Minister added another goal recently, which is full control of the 14 kilometer border between Gaza and Egypt. This is a clear attempt to extend the war for more months to come to avoid his trial.

“It became very clear to everyone that this devastating war is to accomplish two goals only, which are to maintain Netanyahu in his current office and to further distance himself from responsibility for October 7, and as an addition, to fill the bank account of the weapons producers.” He stated.