A boy sits among the rubble and scattered belongings of the Palestinian al-Atrash family, after their home was destroyed in an Israeli strike in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on March 13, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas group. (Photo by AFP)
Cape Town, South Africa: South Africa's foreign minister says her country's citizens who fight in the Israeli armed forces or alongside them in Gaza will be arrested when they return home, deepening the rift between the nations after South Africa lay accusations of genocide against Israel at the United Nations' top court.
Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor made the comment earlier this week at a Palestinian solidarity event attended by officials from South Africa's ruling African National Congress party.
She also encouraged people to protest outside the embassies of what she called the "five primary supporters” of Israel and its military action in Gaza. She didn’t name them.
"I have already issued a statement alerting those who are South African and are fighting alongside or in the Israeli Defense Forces: We are ready. When you come home, we are going to arrest you,” Pandor said, to rapturous applause from the audience.
In December, the foreign ministry said that the South African government was concerned that some of its citizens or permanent residents had joined the IDF to fight in Gaza and warned that they could face prosecution if they hadn't been granted permission to do so under South Africa's arms control laws.
Those with dual South African-Israeli citizenship could be stripped of their South African citizenship, the foreign ministry said. Pandor's comments represented an apparent hardening of the government's stance.
It's not clear how many South African citizens have fought for Israel during the current war in Gaza. South Africa has a significant Jewish population of around 70,000 people.
The South African government was a vocal supporter of the Palestinian people and a critic of Israel even before the current war.
The issue is close to the ruling ANC party and many South Africans, who for years have compared Israel's policies against Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank with the treatment of non-whites in South Africa during its apartheid era of forced racial segregation and oppression.
