(Ottawa) Although it supports the “very important” work of the International Court of Justice, Canada does not necessarily support “the premise” of South Africa’s case, which accuses Israel of genocide, reported Friday Justin Trudeau.
“The first stage of the process just concluded a few hours ago with Israel putting its position forward, and I can assure you that we will have a complete ministerial declaration […] in the coming hours,” declared the Prime Minister on the sidelines of an announcement in Ontario on Friday.
Meanwhile, he noted that while Ottawa was one of the strongest defenders of the rules-based international system and important institutions, including the ICJ, that “does not imply that we support the premise of the question posed by South Africa.
For several days, uncertainty has persisted regarding the position of the Canadian government regarding the procedure initiated by Pretoria.
The Conservative Party has resolutely sided with the Jewish state, as Deputy Leader Melissa Lantsman and MP Michael Chong signaled by signing an open letter published Thursday in the National Post.
“South Africa’s case is worse than baseless. It is based on manipulated evidence and distorted and invented quotes attributed to Israeli officials,” the two deputies say in the missive.
“The real facts point in the opposite direction: it is Hamas whose charter clearly states its genocidal intention to wipe Israel off the map, and whose savagery of October 7 shows that, given the chance, it is ready to act accordingly,” they also insist.
Their leader, Pierre Poilievre, agreed. ” It’s ridiculous ; Hamas is really the group carrying out the genocide. […] Where is the effort to condemn Hamas for genocide? “, he said at a press briefing in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
In a historic legal case, South Africa accuses Israel of genocide before the International Court of Justice (ICJ). According to Pretoria, Israeli strikes on Gaza as well as the siege of the Palestinians living there “are of a genocidal character”.
The court in The Hague, Netherlands, heard arguments from the South African camp on Thursday. South Africa’s lawyer, Adila Hassim, argued that Israel’s bombing campaign aimed at “the destruction of Palestinian lives” and pushed Palestinians “to the brink of starvation.”
The response from the Jewish state came on Friday. Israel said it did not seek to destroy the Palestinian people in Gaza, defending itself against a “distorted” and “malicious” accusation of genocide brought against it before the main judicial body of the United Nations ( UN).
With Agence France-Presse