Speaking on the steps of the seat of the ICJ, Naledi Pandor, South Africa’s minister of international relations, tells reporters Israel will have to halt fighting in Gaza if it wants to adhere to the orders of the UN’s top court.
“How do you provide aid and water without a ceasefire?” Pandor said. “If you read the order, by implication a ceasefire must happen.”
Back in South Africa, senior officials welcomed the ruling.
“It’s a watershed judgement for all those who want to see peace in Palestine,” Fikile Mbalula, secretary-general of the ruling African National Congress party, told reporters.
That may very well be the implication, but implications come with interpretation, and I think we can all guess how this will be interpreted.