WASHINGTON, March  19, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - South Africa's top diplomat on
Tuesday accused Israel of setting a precedent for leaders to defy the top UN
court, as she again alleged a campaign of "starvation" in Gaza.

South Africa has hauled Israel before the International Court of Justice
(ICJ) to allege genocide in the war triggered by the October 7 Hamas attack,
infuriating Israel and drawing US criticism.

Naledi Pandor, South Africa's foreign minister, said Tuesday that Israel
had defied a January ruling by the ICJ that it should take action to prevent
acts of genocide as it fights Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

"The provisional measures have been entirely ignored by Israel," Pandor
said at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace during a visit to US
capital Washington.

"We're seeing mass starvation now and famine before our very eyes," she
said. "I think we, as humanity, need to look at ourselves in horror and dismay
and to be really worried that we have set an example."

Pandor added that Israel's actions may mean other nations believe that
"there's license -- I can do what I want and I will not be stopped."

She said that South Africa's post-apartheid democracy -- in going through
international institutions -- was "merely practicing what is preached to us
every day" by the West.

"The ICJ has not been respected. And the day an African disrespects (it) I
hope we don't go to that leader and say 'Listen, you're out of bounds --
because you're an African, we expect you to obey,'" she said.

South Africa has again petitioned the court in The Hague to order measures
for Israel to stop "widespread starvation" triggered by its Gaza offensive.

Israel denounced the South African plea as "outrageous" and "morally
repugnant," pointing to its initiatives, including humanitarian pauses in
fighting.

A UN-backed food security assessment determined that Gaza is facing
imminent famine, with around 1.1 million people -- about half the population --
experiencing "catastrophic" hunger.