2023: South Africa’s Foreign Minister Says Citizens Fighting With Israeli Forces In Gaza Will Be Arrested

Cape Town, South Africa – South Africa’s foreign minister says nationals who fight in the Israeli armed forces or alongside them in Gaza will be jailed when they return home, increasing the breach between the countries after South accused Israel of genocide at the United Nations’ top court.

Members of Africa ruling National Congress party were present when Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor made the remarks earlier this week at a Palestinian solidarity event.

She also encouraged people to protest outside the embassies of Israel’s “five primary supporters” for its war action in Gaza. She did not name them, but she was almost certainly referring to the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany, among others.

South Africa’s Foreign Minister Says Citizens Fighting With Israeli Forces In Gaza Will Be Arrested

“I have already released a statement informing individuals who are South African and fighting alongside or in the Israeli Defense Forces that we are ready. “When you get home, we’re going to arrest you,” Pandor stated to thunderous acclaim from the crowd.

In December, the South African foreign ministry expressed concern that some of its citizens or permanent residents had joined the IDF to fight in Gaza, warning that they could face prosecution if they had not been granted permission to do so under South Africa’s arms control laws.

According to the Foreign Ministry, Those with dual South African-Israeli citizenship may lose their South citizenship.

Pandor’s comments indicated an apparent tightening of the government’s stance.

It is unclear how many South African citizens have fought for Israel during the ongoing conflict in Gaza. South has a sizable Jewish community of approximately 70,000 individuals.

South Africa’s Foreign Minister Says Citizens Fighting With Israeli Forces In Gaza Will Be Arrested

Even before the current conflict, the South African government was an outspoken defender of the Palestinian people and a harsh opponent of Israel.

The topic is important to the ruling ANC party and many South Africans, who have long linked Israel’s practices toward Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank to Africa’s treatment of non-whites during apartheid, which was characterized by forced racial separation and persecution.

Israel denies that it has imposed apartheid on Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, and it vehemently rejects Africa’s claim in the International Court of Justice that it is committing genocide in Gaza. That case could take years to resolve.

Israel has responded by accusing South Africa of being a representation of the Hamas militant group that assaulted southern Israel on October 7, murdering about 1,200 Israelis and transporting 250 hostages back to Gaza, initiating the conflict.

South Africa’s Foreign Minister Says Citizens Fighting With Israeli Forces In Gaza Will Be Arrested

Israel’s attack on Gaza has killed nearly 31,000 Palestinians, displaced the majority of the coastal enclave’s 2.3 million residents, and resulted in a humanitarian calamity, with hundreds of thousands of Palestinians on the verge of hunger.

Pandor invited attendees at this week’s Palestinian Solidarity event to make posters with the phrase “Stop Genocide” and demonstrate outside the embassies of Israel’s “five primary supporters”.

“Don’t only come for this dinner. She stated, “Be visible in your support for the Palestinian people.”

SOURCE – (AP)