ISRAEL has criticised South Africa following a meeting of the Hague Group, accusing Pretoria of aligning with hostile actors and promoting what it called an anti-Israel agenda.
In a statement shared Thursday by the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Israeli officials condemned South Africa’s role in organising the latest gathering of the Hague-based coalition, describing it as a “distorted anti-Israel meeting.”
“South Africa, a close ally of the murderous regime in Tehran, which slaughtered thousands of its own citizens, just organised another distorted anti-Israel meeting of the ‘Hague Group’. These two corrupt regimes, united by their hatred of Israel, recently held a joint naval exercise,” the statement read.
The Israeli statement further mocked the expected outcomes of the meeting, claiming they would be “as successful as Iran’s navy,” while also claiming that some countries had distanced themselves from the forum.
“We can expect the outcome of the Hague meeting to be as successful as Iran’s navy, which is probably why Bolivia and Honduras had the sense to leave this forum,” it added.
The Hague Group was formed in January 2025 by a group of countries including South Africa, Bolivia, Cuba, Namibia, Malaysia, Senegal, Honduras and Colombia. The coalition was established to coordinate diplomatic and legal efforts related to the Israeli Palestinian conflict and to support international legal processes connected to the issue.
The group’s initiatives have included meetings of dozens of countries aimed at discussing measures related to the Gaza war and the enforcement of international law concerning the conflict.
The ICIR reports that the ongoing war between Iran, Israel and the United States entered its sixth day on Thursday, March 5, with casualty figures rising across the Middle East.
Iran Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and some of the country’s leaders were killed in the joint Isreal-US strikes on Tehran on the first day of the conflict.
According to Reuters, Iranian Red Crescent Society said at least 1,045 people have been killed, including 175 schoolgirls and staff in a strike on a primary school in Minab on the war’s first day.
Israel Ambulance Service said that 10 civilians were killed, including nine in an Iranian missile strike on Beit Shemesh near Jerusalem on March 1, as the military has yet to report any combat casualties.
Meanwhile the Lebanon Health Ministry said 77 people were killed in Israeli strikes, and Syria state news agency SANA said that four people were killed when an Iranian missile struck a building in the southern city of Sweida on Saturday.
Iraqi health authorities said at least 13 people were killed including 11 militiamen, one army soldier and one civilian.
Meanwhile the US said it that it had destroyed many US naval ships. It also boasted that it had fully taken over Iran’s air space.
Nanji is an investigative journalist with the ICIR. She has years of experience in reporting and broadcasting human angle stories, gender inequalities, minority stories, and human rights issues. She has documented sexual war crimes in armed conflict, sex for grades in Nigerian Universities, harmful traditional practices and human trafficking.