Venezuela supports the South African appeal to international bodies demanding to stop the genocide of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Venezuela said in a statement published on its X (formerly Twitter) page.
According to the ministry's statement, Venezuela supports “the actions taken by this brotherly country in various international bodies to stop the genocide of the Palestinian people by the Israeli regime, which was only possible thanks to the active complicity of the United States and the European Union, which managed to paralyze the system of the Organization United Nations […] and the UN Security Council.”
The Venezuelan Foreign Ministry pointed out to South Africa's firm position on protecting the Palestinian people and quoted the former president of this country, Nelson Mandela, who said: “We know too well that our freedom will be incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians.”
Venezuela will continue to “speak out in all international forums to demand an end to the genocide and to bring to justice and punish those responsible for this barbarity,” the statement added.
Statements of support for Pretoria's position are also heard from other Latin American countries this weekend. The Chilean government has also called on the Israeli authorities to comply with the orders of the International Court of Justice to cease hostilities in Rafah.
On Friday, the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to stop its military operation in Rafah on the border of the Gaza Strip and Egypt. The court's decision was announced by the chairman of the court, Nawaf Salam, who stressed that Israel must also keep land crossings open, in particular the Rafah crossing, to allow humanitarian aid to flow there.
A joint statement by the head of the Israeli National Security Council and the Foreign Ministry said that Israel is not carrying out and does not plan to carry out actions in Rafah that could create conditions for the complete or partial destruction of the Palestinian civilian population.
South Africa's ICJ Case Against Israeli Actions in Gaza
The International Court of Justice in The Hague held a hearing on May 16-17 on South Africa's request for additional measures against Israel over its operation in Rafah. The representative of South Africa, the country's ambassador to the Netherlands, Vusi Madonsela, called on the court to oblige Israel to stop its military operation in the Gaza Strip, including Rafah, and to withdraw its military from there.
On May 10, South Africa submitted an urgent request to the International Court of Justice to take additional measures against Israel due to the situation in the city Rafah. In its new request, Pretoria asked the authority to take into account “changed circumstances and new facts”, order new measures and adjust those which were introduced earlier.
South Africa believes that the Israeli incursion in Rafah and the impact of the military operation on the supply of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip cause irreparable damage to the rights of the Palestinian people in the enclave.
The International Court of Justice in The Hague on January 26 issued an interim decision on South Africa's claim requesting provisional measures against Israel over alleged genocide in the Gaza Strip. The court ordered Israel to take all measures to prevent genocide in the Gaza Strip, prosecute calls for genocide against Palestinians, ensure the flow of humanitarian aid to the residents of the area, and ensure the preservation of evidence related to accusations of committing acts against the Palestinian people described in the convention about genocide.
Due to the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, the UN court on March 28 ordered Israel to take all necessary measures to ensure the unimpeded flow of humanitarian aid, including water and food, into Gaza, and to ensure conditions under which Israeli Defense Forces would not carry out actions violating the rights of Palestinians in Gaza.
South Africa filed a claim against Israel under the genocide convention at the International Court of Justice in The Hague over the situation in the Gaza Strip on December 29, 2023, calling on the court to take provisional measures against the Israeli authorities. South Africa pointed out that Israel's actions against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip constitute a "violation of obligations under the Genocide Convention."
According to the African country's statement from December, "Israel's actions and inactions are genocidal in nature because they are committed with the necessary specific intent [...] to destroy the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip as part of the broader Palestinian national, racial, and ethnic group."