"We would like to see practical strategies formulated for the adoption of the Palestinian cause at the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to declare Israel an apartheid state and to mobilize civil society, both in Palestine and internationally, to support the Palestinian cause," said the head of Pretoria's diplomacy.

Speaking at the first Global Anti-Apartheid Palestine Conference, which is taking place in Johannesburg today, Pretoria's head of diplomacy Naledi Pandor also urged the international community; the United Nations and civil society to "act against Israel's settler-colonial apartheid regime through a series of recommendations, including that Third States take measures towards the full decolonization of Palestine".

"This should entail dismantling all structures of domination, exploitation and oppression, and the realization of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, including self-determination and the return to their homes, lands and properties," stressed Naledi Pandor, considering that "the international community has an obligation to find a comprehensive and just resolution to the Palestinian question".

In the view of the South African leader, the only way to achieve "a lasting peace" in the Middle East "is through a comprehensive and negotiated settlement, without preconditions, to end the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories and the ongoing blockade and siege of Gaza".

The South African government today filed an urgent application with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague to impose new measures against Israel due to the situation in the city of Rafah, on the southern border of the Gaza Strip with Egypt, the court announced.

Pretoria wants the court to again modify the provisional measures previously announced in the case concerning the application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip.

"In its new request, South Africa argues that the provisional measures previously indicated by the Court "are not capable of 'fully addressing' the new circumstances and facts on which it bases its request", the statement said.

According to the court, Pretoria considers that "the situation caused by the Israeli attack on Rafah, and the extreme risk it poses to the humanitarian supply and basic services in Gaza, to the survival of the Palestinian medical system, and to the very survival of the Palestinians in Gaza as a group, is not merely an escalation of the prevailing situation, but gives rise to new facts that are causing irreparable prejudice to the rights of the Palestinian people in Gaza".

Since December, Pretoria has been requesting additional measures from the UN court, accusing Israel of perpetrating a "genocide" in Gaza, an accusation denied by Israel.

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