The announced Israeli attack on Rafah in the Gaza Strip, which is overcrowded with refugees, is causing international concern. South Africa sees human rights in danger – and has once again appealed to the highest UN court.
South Africa has filed an urgent application with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to examine whether an expansion of Israeli military operations to Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip is legal. Rafah is the last refuge for people in Gaza, the South African presidency said.
The court should ensure that the announced ground offensive against the Islamist Hamas does not violate the rights of Palestinian civilians.
South Africa is deeply concerned that the expansion of the military offensive in Rafah will lead to “large-scale killings, damage and destruction.” “This would be a serious and irreparable violation of both the Genocide Convention and the Court’s decision of January 26,” the Presidency said.
On January 26, the ICJ declared the risk of genocide in the Gaza Strip and obliged Israel to do everything possible to prevent it. South Africa filed a lawsuit against Israel in December, accusing the country of violating the Genocide Convention.
Warning from UN Secretary General Guterres
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also warned that an attack on Rafah would have devastating consequences. He hopes that the ceasefire negotiations will be successful. Because then an offensive on the city on the border with Egypt, which is overcrowded with refugees, could be avoided.
US President Joe Biden recently raised hopes of a ceasefire. Biden said after a conversation with the Jordanian King Abdullah in Washington that he was committed to an initial six-week ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. The US worked with allies in the region to reach an agreement to halt the fighting. This should make it possible to free the hostages in the Gaza Strip and expand humanitarian aid. During the break in fighting you can then take the time to “build something more permanent”.
“There is not a single safe place”
However, it is uncertain whether this ceasefire will actually come before Israel’s announced offensive on Rafah. “If the attack occurs, the question arises as to where the civilians should go,” said the head of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, in Geneva. There is not a single safe place left in the Gaza Strip border area with Egypt. The number of injured and killed could rise significantly.
According to the United Nations, well over a million Palestinians have fled from other parts of the Gaza Strip to escape the Israeli army to Rafah in the south. It is impossible for these people to leave the crowded area so that Israeli security forces can continue their search for Hamas militants, Lazzarini stressed. Every free piece of land in the area is occupied by hundreds of thousands of refugees who live in makeshift shelters made of plastic sheeting.
Baerbock: “Right to self-defense, but not right to expulsion”
Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) expressed similar concern. Hundreds of thousands of people have sought protection in Rafah on Israel’s instructions and must continue to find it there, she said at a joint press conference with her Palestinian counterpart, Foreign Minister Riad al-Malki, in Berlin. Israel’s right to self-defense applies, but “it does not include expulsion.” If Israel wants to fight the “incredible nest of the terrorist organization Hamas” in Rafah, there must be safe corridors for the innocent civilian population.
Tomorrow the Foreign Minister wants to travel to Israel again. Talks are planned there with Foreign Minister Israel Katz, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposition leader Jair Lapid
Stephan Ueberbach, ARD Johannesburg, tagesschau, February 14, 2024 5:43 a.m