Zanu PF endorses South Africa’s ICJ challenge against Israeli genocide in Gaza

By Staff Reporter

Zimbabwe’s ruling Zanu PF party has come out in full support of South Africa’s bold move to take Israel to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for genocide in Gaza.

The widely condemned Israeli incursion in Gaza has seen the massacre of nearly 25 000 Palestinians in just four months.

Against all odds, South Africa took leadership and filed the high-profile challenge, arguing Israeli forces had killed 23,210 Palestinians, a 70 percent majority victims believed to be innocent women and children.

South Africa argued Israeli forces were often aware that the bombings would cause significant civilian casualties.

Several world countries have come out in support of South Africa’s bold stance.

Equally, Zanu PF, through its spokesperson Christopher Mutsvangwa, says the neighbouring country has represented the African continent well through the suit.

“It has made Africa feel proud that we are part of humanity and we say to the Israeli government, those of Jewish extraction in other countries who are demonstrating against their government including the young people of America, from universities, they are right.

“We need a ceasefire, we need unimpeded access of humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people,” he said.

Mutsvangwa, who doubles as Zimbabwe’s war veterans minister, averred that a strong South Africa is good for the stability of the region as it “checks wayward adventurism as a regional power”.

“Tinodawo wedu pamamonya ipapo (we need our own among the giants) that is why we are happy when they go to BRICS to look for more opportunities as a bridge head for Africa.

“That is the role which SA plays and it vindicates why you Zimbabweans stood four-square with SA at their darkest hour when Mozambique was made to buckle with Samora (Machel) being killed and Nkomati (Accord) being foisted upon,” he said.

“Wasn’t it a source of pride yesterday to see SA jurists presenting their case in solidarity with the Palestinian people at the ICJ?”

The top politician said, “the PLO and other liberation movements of the Palestinian people are imperilled”.

“Right now, the population of Gaza is imperilled because of the genocidal practices and tendencies of the Israeli government and the Israeli army against the whole population,” he said, adding, “25 000 people have been killed in three months.

“No war has done so much ravage to a civilian population in a very confined area including collective punishment of a people, denying them water, denying them medicine, denying them care because you are justifying that you are trying to hunt down terrorists, no act justifies acceptance or condonation of genocide or genocidal tendencies no matter what the Israeli government do.

“The most unfortunate thing is that it is even the leadership which has been making some strange statement to justify why they should do that to a population, the statements are there so we are very happy that SA has pricked the conscience of the world and had the courage to defy the powerful Israeli lobby in America.”

Mutsvangwa said ZANU PF expects a two-step solution for Israel and Palestine as was the case in SA which became a rainbow nation of blacks and Afrikaners living side by side fallowing the fall of Apartheid in 1994.

“People used to say blacks and Afrikaners in SA cannot live together,” he said.

“The demise of apartheid has disproved that. SA is now a multi-racial rainbow nation. Who says Palestinian and Israelis cannot find each other?

“We want extremism to be checked, particularly state sponsored or state directed extremism on the part of the Israeli, and Israeli leadership and Israeli government.”

Israel on October 27 last year launched a large-scale invasion of the Gaza Strip in retaliation to a deadly October 7 coordinated attack by Hamas militants on its territory.

The first invasion of Israel since the 1948 Arab-Israel War, the incursion fell on the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah, right after the festival of Sukkot, a Sabbath day.

About 1 139 Israelis were killed during the attack and approximately 250 taken as hostages into the Gaza Strip.

Hamas said the attack was in response to the continued Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, the blockade of the Gaza Strip, the expansion of illegal Israeli settlements, rising Israeli settler violence, and recent escalations.