South Africa’s presidency says it welcomed an announcement by the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor, saying he had requested arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and three Hamas leaders over alleged war crimes.
“The law must be applied equally to all in order to uphold the international rule of law, ensure accountability for those that commit heinous crimes and protect the rights of victims,” South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s office says in a statement.
Israeli and Hamas leaders have dismissed allegations of committing war crimes, and representatives of both sides criticized the prosecutor’s decision.
South Africa has in recent months brought a case against Israel at the International Court of Justice accusing it of genocide in the war in Gaza. Israel rejects the accusations as baseless and says South Africa is acting as an emissary of Hamas.
Israel says the military is targeting Hamas terrorists, not Palestinian civilians, but that civilian casualties in the fighting are unavoidable as terrorists operate from within the population.
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