Yanir Cozin, diplomatic correspondent for Galei Tzahal (IDF Radio) and The Knesset Channel, on Friday asked the head of the Southern African Department of International Law whether his country defines Hamas as a terrorist organization.
"South Africa has not declared Hamas as a terrorist organization. That does not mean we condone what Hamas has done. The fact that other jurisdictions have declared them a terrorist organization does not mean that we should do the same,” the South African official replied.
“We see that Hamas is active in places like Hamas and Turkey, formally. They are not active in South Africa, they don’t have any bases there, which has been claimed as well. We engage with all Palestinian stakeholders,” he continued.
Cozin shared the video of the South African official’s response on X and wrote, “Just to show you, who we are dealing with.”
The video was shared many times, including by Israeli government spokesman Eylon Levy, who wrote: “1) Hamas is a terrorist organization, 2) It does operate in South Africa, #factcheck”.
Jason Brodsky, policy director of United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) and non-resident scholar at the Middle East Institute’s Iran Program, wrote, “Hamas has long operated in South Africa, but has used its territory as a permissive environment to fundraise, recruit, and train its operatives to attack other countries.”
He included a link to a 2002 article from The New York Times titled: “Islamic Terrorists Have Found A New Home in South Africa”.
The exchange took place on the sidelines of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) hearing of South Africa’s genocide case against Israel.