In this ‘might makes right’ era, the Apartheid state of Israel and imperialist United States are waging an illegal war on Lebanon and Iran while Israel continues to bombard and blockade Gaza, directly killing over 600 people since the start of the so-called ‘ceasefire’ last October and escalating their ethnic cleansing, unlawful arrests and murder of Palestinians in the West Bank.

Apartheid Israel’s impunity will only end when states take action in line with international law. We are already beginning to see this happen where states, due to popular pressure, are starting to comply with their legal obligations to end their own complicity and hold Israel accountable as ruled on by the International Court of Justice in our case against Israel under the Genocide Convention, the ICJ Advisory Opinion on the illegality of Israeli occupation and UN General Assembly resolution ES-10/24 of September 2024.

This month, Colombia and South Africa, as Co-Chairs of The Hague Group, co-signed a commitment to:

Prevent the transfer, transit, or carriage of arms, munitions, military fuel, and dual-use items to Israel — including through export restrictions, port controls, and flag-state responsibilities — in full compliance with international law. Conduct urgent reviews of public procurement and contracts to ensure that no public institution or public funds sustain Israel’s unlawful occupation.

In 2024, Colombia issued a decree banning coal sales to Israel, followed up with a further decree of 2025.

South Africa has taken up the baton from Colombia, becoming the largest exporter of coal to Israel. This coal is used to generate electricity, feeding into the Israeli electricity grid, fuelling the genocide, military industrial complex, illegal regional war and ongoing settler-colonial system of apartheid against the Palestinian people.

Although South African sales to Israel have increased, they still account for less than 3% of our total coal exports while providing around 25% of Israel’s coal powered electricity in 2025.

In the current moment, where the US and Israel are creating a global energy crisis, halting our coal sales will deal a major blow to genocidal Israel’s energy security. This is a legitimate mechanism South Africa can use to sanction and hold it accountable for its criminal actions.

As coal exports to Israel represent only a very small proportion of our overall coal export trade and, when viewed against total export volumes, the discontinuation of such exports will not negatively impact on South Africa’s coal export sector.

The factual evidence provided in our report coupled with an analysis of the applicable legal framework and binding duties compel government to take urgent and immediate action to ensure the cessation of their own complicity in the ongoing human rights violations taking place in Palestine and beyond.

The Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, Parks Tau, is empowered through existing legislation to ensure that South Africa complies with its domestic and international legal obligations by restricting the exports of coal to Israel in order to prevent ongoing complicity in Israel’s crimes against humanity.