Luanda – Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday that US relations with South Africa would not suffer over a genocide case brought against Israel, although he again rejected the allegation.
The International Court of Justice will rule Friday on whether there is enough evidence that Israel has broken or could break the Genocide Convention to justify it ordering emergency measures to protect civilians.
On a tour of Africa that does not include a stop in South Africa, Washington’s top diplomat – who has previously called the genocide case “meritless” – said “those views stand”.
“Of course, our relationship with South Africa is vitally important and it is a very broad and deep relationship covering many, many issues,” Blinken told reporters in Angola.
ALSO READ | SA’s genocide case against Israel is the country’s proudest foreign policy moment in three decades
“When we have a disagreement on one particular matter, it doesn’t take away from the important work that we are doing together,” he said.
Israel launched a ferocious military campaign in the Gaza Strip in response to an October 7 attack by Hamas that resulted in the death of around 1,140 people in Israel, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
More than 25,700 Palestinians, around 70 percent of them women, young children and adolescents, have been killed in the Gaza Strip in Israeli bombardments and ground offensive since October 7, according to the Hamas government’s Ministry of Health.
The campaign has triggered global concern and earlier this month South Africa lodged a complaint before the UN’s top court, the ICJ, alleging that Israel’s actions amounted to genocide.
Israel has voiced fury over the lawsuit, accusing South Africa of effectively acting as the legal defence team of Hamas.
Follow African Insider on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
Source: AFP
Picture: X/@SecBlinken
For more African news, visit Africaninsider.com
