South Africa refers Israel to ICC over Gaza attacks as pressure mounts to cut diplomatic ties

South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday said that his country has sent a case to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for an inquiry into suspected war crimes committed in Gaza by Israel. Ramaphosa said that his country believes Israel is committing war crimes and genocide in Gaza, where thousands of Palestinians have been killed and hospitals and public infrastructure have been destroyed. The action was taken as South African MPs were scheduled to discuss a motion on Thursday that demanded that the Israeli Embassy be closed and that all diplomatic relations with Israel be severed unless it agreed to a cease-fire. “As South Africa, we have accordingly, together with many other countries across the world, referred this whole Israeli government action to the International Criminal Court,” Ramaphosa said Wednesday during a state visit to Qatar. “We have put through a referral because we believe that war crimes are being committed there. And of course we do not condone the actions that were taken by Hamas earlier, but similarly we condemn the actions that are currently underway and believe that they warrant an investigation by the ICC,” he added. Ramaphosa’s ruling African National Congress party said it would support the motion tabled by the leftist opposition party Economic Freedom Fighters for the country to shut down the Israeli Embassy and cut diplomatic ties with the country. With inputs from agencies