CAPE TOWN, November 21, 2024 (WAFA) – The Republic of South Africa Thursday welcomed the arrest warrants issued by the International Court of Justice (ICC) for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and former ‘Defense’ Minister Yoav Gallant, six months after chief prosecutor Karim Khan requested them.
The South African International Affairs and Development Department said in a media statement that the Government welcomes the ICC’s recent warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Minister of ‘Defence’ Yoav Gallant.
“These actions mark a significant step towards justice for crimes against humanity and war crimes in Palestine,” it added.
The Ministry reaffirmed in the statement South Africa’s “commitment to international law” and urged “all state parties to act in accordance with their obligations in the Rome Statute.”
“We call on the global community to uphold the rule of law and ensure accountability for human rights violations,” it concluded.
The ICC issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, six months after chief prosecutor Karim Khan requested them, marking the first instance in the court's 22-year history it has issued arrest warrants for western-allied senior officials.
In its statement, the ICC's Pre-Trial Chamber I, a panel of three judges, said that it has “in its composition for the Situation in the State of Palestine, unanimously issued two decisions rejecting challenges by the State of Israel (‘Israel’) brought under articles 18 and 19 of the Rome Statute (the ‘Statute’). It also issued warrants of arrest for Mr Benjamin Netanyahu and Mr Yoav Gallant.”
The chamber said the arrest warrants are classified as "secret" but that it has decided to release them because "conduct similar to that addressed in the warrant of arrest appears to be ongoing", referring to Israel's ongoing onslaught on Gaza.
All 125 states that signed the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the court, are now under an obligation to arrest the wanted individuals and hand them over to the ICC in the Hague. A trial cannot commence in absentia.
However, the court does not have enforcement powers. It relies on the cooperation of member states to arrest and surrender suspects.
Israel is not a member of the ICC, but the State of Palestine was granted membership in 2015. Accordingly, the court can investigate Israeli individuals for crimes committed in occupied Palestine, which includes the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7, killing at least of 44,056 Palestinians and injuring 104,268 others.
Moreover, at least 10,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.
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