Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could be facing an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC). Photo: Gali Tibbon/AFP via Getty Images
Following Israeli media reports over the weekend that the International Criminal Court (ICC) could seek to arrest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his senior officials as soon as this week, word from our government is that President Cyril Ramaphosa is “closely monitoring” the situation.
To date, more that 34 000 people, including women and children, have been killed in the devastating war in Gaza.
In November last year, South Africa made a referral to the ICC to investigate Netanyahu and senior officials in his government for war crimes and crimes against humanity over their military operation in Gaza.
In February, International Relations Minister Naledi Pandor said she had demanded to know why there was no warrant for Netanyahu yet, while the ICC had sought the arrest of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In response to the latest developments, presidential spokesperson Vincent Magwenya revealed on Monday during a media briefing that Ramaphosa and the government are keeping a close eye on developments in the Middle East and that possibility of ICC issuing an arrest warrant for Netanyahu.
“With respect to a warrant of arrest that may be issued, we will follow those developments as they progress. Whatever interventions made by institutions set up to safeguard international law, to safeguard the lives of citizens, we will applaud those measures as and when those measures are being taken.
“We are part of those institutions and we do believe in the adherence to the principles of international law. We also believe that no country and no individual should be above those international legal obligations,” said Magwenya.
He said South Africa’s case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague to obtain a declaration that Israel is engaging in genocide in Gaza was still ongoing.
This after South Africa turned to the ICJ in December last year to put in place provisional measures to provide humanitarian aid and protect civilians against attacks.
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In 2017, the ICC ruled that South Africa erred in its decision not to arrest Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir during his controversial visit to the country in 2015.
South Africa, however, faced no sanction for hobbling the court it signed up to, and denying Darfur’s victims of justice.
According to a report by the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), the ICC’s failure to report South Africa to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), raised questions about the “weak tools” in the ICC’s arsenal to ensure cooperation by its member states.
Russian President Vladimir Putin faces arrest because of the alleged kidnapping of Ukrainian children amid his country’s invasion of Ukraine.
Ramaphosa initially argued that his government should be allowed to disregard that warrant if Putin was to set foot in South Africa for the Brics conference which took place in Cape Town last year.
According to Ramaphosa, executing the arrest could risk a Russian attack despite South Africa being a member of the ICC.
Meanwhile, Netanyahu vowed in a tweet on Friday to defy the ICC should it seek to “seize the soldiers and officials of the Middle East’s only democracy and the world’s only Jewish state”.
“We will not bow to it,” Netanyahu said of the court, in apparent reference to protecting those within his chain of command.
Meanwhile, a government source told the Times of Israel that Israel was working hard to stave off potential ICC warrants, something the paper linked to a rare Shabbat army briefing that described increased efforts to ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid in Gaza.
The ICC was expected to allege that Israel is deliberately starving Palestinians in Gaza, one source told The Times.
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