Justice Minister Ronald Lamola has arrived in Jordan to represent South Africa at a high-level conference on the crisis in Gaza.
The meeting begins Tuesday and is being hosted by the Jordanian and Egyptian leaders as well UN Secretary-General António Guterres.
Lamola will meet heads of state at the event which international humanitarian and relief agencies are also expected to attend.
The meeting follows Israel’s recent offensive in Rafah and will address “the minimum requirements needed for sufficient supplies of humanitarian assistance (to) reach into and throughout Gaza”.
It also follows Pretoria’s successful challenge to Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague, where it argued Israel has violated the Genocide Convention in its killing of Palestinian civilians and obtained interim measures from the court to de-escalate the crisis.
Since the latest ICJ order, more countries have recognised Palestine as a state, including Ireland and Spain earlier this month. More than 13 countries have applied or indicated their intention to apply to join South Africa’s case.
South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) on Monday said Israel’s recent raid on the Nuseirat refugee camp “is one of the single worst massacres committed by the Israeli occupation forces in Gaza”.
“We are appalled that these attacks are being praised by some, for saving four Israeli hostages, while killing and severely injuring hundreds of innocent Palestinian civilians.”
DIRCO said the attacks “undermine this political process and raise the fundamental question as to whether Israel, the occupying power, is in any way committed to ongoing mediation efforts and ultimately the Middle East Peace Process.”
