During his annual State of the Nation Address, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa reaffirmed his nation’s commitment to working toward a ceasefire in the Gaza War and a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine.
Speaking to MPs on Thursday at Cape Town City Hall, the president stated that South Africa had taken up the Palestinian cause “to prevent further deaths and destruction in Gaza,” “guided by the fundamental principle of human rights and freedom.”
Israel is being accused of genocide in Gaza by South Africa in a lawsuit brought before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague. In an interim ruling last month, the court declared that it has jurisdiction to hear the case and mandated that Israel take all necessary precautions to avoid genocidal acts.
“We applaud the International Court of Justice’s decision that Israel must do everything in its power to stop acts of genocide against the Palestinian people,” Ramaphosa stated in his speech.
He said, “We call on all parties involved in the conflict to commit to a peace process that will deliver a two-state solution and we condemn the killing of civilians on all sides.”
Following the speech, Al Jazeera’s Fahmida Miller reported from Johannesburg that South Africa has thus far deemed its case at the ICJ to be “a success.”
When discussing the issue of the war in Gaza, Ramaphosa stated that South Africa was firmly behind the Palestinian people and that they would use all diplomatic and legal methods to continue that fight and bring a ceasefire and a two-state solution to that region. Our correspondent continued, “Ramaphosa had said that there really is no conflict across any part of the world that is intractable and can’t be resolved through negotiations.”
