By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Cabinet has called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to probe the bombing of the Ahli Arab Baptist Hospital in Gaza that killed hundreds of people on Tuesday, 17 October.
Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni described the act as a blatant violation of International Humanitarian Law and called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to immediately act against such a breach.
“The failure to act meaningfully by both the ICC and the United Nations will be a demonstration of the total collapse of a rules-based multilateral system,” Ntshavheni, said on Thursday.”
Ntshavheni added that the bombing of the hospital is a “war crime” as hospitals are considered a haven under International Humanitarian Law.
“Cabinet calls on the International Criminal Court to investigate the bombing and the crime of genocide in this conflict and on the international community not to allow the perpetration of another holocaust under its watch. The Jewish holocaust is enough stain in the history of mankind, for the international community to fold its arms while the Israeli government perpetrates a Palestinian holocaust,” she continued.
The Minister was briefing the media on the outcomes of Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza on Wednesday, said that at least 471 people had been killed and 314 people injured in the explosion at Ahli Arab Hospital. Rescue operations were ongoing and Ministry officials warned that the death toll could increase.
However, Ntshavheni said the government has not yet approached the ICC directly to investigate.
Many violations of international law, according to the Executive Authority, have been committed by all sides. They called for accountability and justice in response to all those crimes.
“Cabinet condemned the cowardly attack by Hamas that killed and injured innocent people. Similarly, Cabinet condemned the heinous opportunism of the Israeli government to use Hamas’ cowardice to continue its genocide against the people of Palestine.”
Cabinet believes the international community must be seized with finding a permanent security solution for the people of Israel and Palestine through the settlement of the two-state solution founded on the 1947 borders.
Ntshavheni said South Africa will engage with the Secretary General of the United Nations António Guterres and countries in the Middle East, regarding what role it can play in terms of mediation.