Johannesburg,South Africa

The South African government has taken a stand to applaud the decision which has taken by International Criminal Court to seek warrants of arrest for the Prime Minister and Defence Minister of Israel and Hamas leaders.

The Presidency said South Africa welcomes the decision by the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court(ICC),Karim Kahn KC,on the application for arrest warrants for the Prime Minister and Defence Minister of Israel and three leaders of Hamas for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity under the Rome Statute of the ICC within the context of the present conflict in Gaza.

The decision of the ICC was long overdue because since October 2023,the Israeli occupation army has slaughtered more than 35,000 Palestinian civilians and displaced more than 1,5 million in Gaza alone.

South Africa has been championing the fight for the protection of the Palestinian civilians which are caught in the middle of an ongoing genocidal war which is waged against them by Israel.

South Africa has promised to do whatever it takes to stop Israeli government for continuing with its ruthless mission of ethnic cleansing in Gaza,and has approached the International Court of Justice(ICJ) to prevent an ongoing genocide in the Palestinian enclave.

"South Africa is committed to the international rule of law,universal respect for human rights and the settlement of all international disputes by negotiation and not war,and the self-determination of all peoples,including the Palestinians,"said President Cyril Ramaphosa.

South African government has been vocally and openly criticised both participants to the conflict and has urged them to stop what they are doing which put civilians lives at risk.

"We have also consistently held that all participants to the conflict must ensure that fighting and hostilities come to an immediate end,that all hostages must be released immediately,and that Israel immediately withdraws its military forces from Gaza.This is the only way in which the rights of the Palestinian civilian population can be protected and the basis for sustainable peace can be achieved,"said President Ramaphosa.

Who are these leaders that ICC is pursuing?

The ICC Prosecutor Khan has named five leaders of both countries which are accused of killing and starving innocent civilians since October 2023.

On the Palestinian side,the ICC wants to arrest Yahya Sinwar(Head of the Islamic Resistance Movement),Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri who is popularly known as DEIF(Commander-in-Chief of the military wing of Hamas,known as the Al-Qassam Brigades) and Ismail Haniyeh(Head of Hamas Political Burea).

On the Israeli side,the ICC wants to arrest only two individuals which is Benjamin Netanyahu(the Prime Minister of Israel) and Yoav Gallant(the Minister of Defence).