African Union (AU) Commission Chair Moussa Faki Mahamat, has voiced strong support for the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor's request for arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and three Hamas leaders.
Mahamat described the ICC's move as "absolutely logical" and expressed frustration that it took so long.
"I think they took too much time, they should have done it from the beginning, because it’s clearly a decision to destroy a people and a nation. That is not acceptable," he stated in an interview with Doha News.
On Monday, the ICC prosecutor, Karim Khan, submitted applications for arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant, Hamas's Ismail Haniyeh, Yahya Sinwar, and Mohammed Deif.
The final decision on whether to issue the warrants rests with a panel of three ICC judges, who will carefully evaluate the evidence presented by Khan's office.
Earlier, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa also echoed the AU's stance, emphasizing the need for equal application of the law.
"The law must be applied equally to all in order to uphold the international rule of law, ensure accountability for those that commit heinous crimes, and protect the rights of victims," the African leader said in a statement.
The ICC's move follows a month of the intense conflict in Gaza, triggered by a Hamas-led cross-border incursion on October 7, 2023, which killed over a 1,100 Israelis, according to Israeli data. The subsequent Israeli military response has resulted in the deaths of over 35,600 Palestinian civilians, most of them women and children, according to local health authorities, and the devastation of the Gaza Strip.
In late December 2023, South Africa filed a lawsuit against Israel in the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which ruled in January provisional measures ordering Israel to prevent acts of genocide and ensure the flow of humanitarian aid to the enclave.
Last week, new hearings on the case were held at the ICJ at the request of South Africa, citing the intensification of the alleged genocide in Gaza after Israeli forces launched an operation in the Gazan city of Rafah, home to more than 1.5 million Palestinian refugees, and took control of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, the only window for humanitarian aid into the besieged enclave.