South Africa ramps up coal exports to Israel despite diplomatic hardline against Gaza genocide

Israel has relied on South Africa for coal after Colombia banned exports over the genocide in Gaza  

News Desk  -  The Cradle 

Despite its diplomatic opposition to Israel's genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, South Africa has drastically increased coal exports to Israel, helping it replace the loss of Colombian coal imports.

South Africa’s coal exports to Israel rose by 87 percent in the three months to November on an annual basis, providing some 55 percent of Israel’s seaborne coal imports, shipping data cited by Reuters on 16 December showed.

The South African shipments have helped Israel meet its wartime energy needs after Colombian coal exports fell to zero in November.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced the suspension of coal exports to Israel in June 2024, over a year ago.

“Colombian coal is used to make bombs to kill Palestinian children,” Petro said at the time in a post on X.

Petro said coal shipments would not resume until Israel obeyed the International Court of Justice (ICJ) order to halt its assault on Rafah in southern Gaza.

However, Colombia was still sending coal to Israel in 2025, accounting for 42 percent of imports, due to legal loopholes that allowed delivery under long-term supply agreements.

Petro took additional action in August 2025, effectively ending Colombian exports by November.

South Africa’s Trade Minister, Parks Tau, has justified continued trade with Tel Aviv, saying sanctioning Israel could violate World Trade Organization (WTO) rules.

Yet Colombia, which is also a WTO member, has reportedly faced no formal challenge following its coal export ban, Reuters noted.

South Africa’s government was one of the few to take diplomatic action against Israel after the start of the genocidal war on Gaza in October 2023. In December of that year, Praetoria brought a case against Israel at the ICJ, accusing Tel Aviv of violating the genocide convention.

Over two years later, the ICJ has yet to issue a final judgement, while Israel has ignored the court’s temporary injunctions demanding an end to military operations.

Despite international condemnation of Israel’s actions, which have killed at least 71,000 Palestinians in Gaza, the majority of whom are women and children, many nations continue to provide resources to fuel Israel’s economy and military.

Though Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been one of Israel’s leading critics in public, he continues to allow Azerbaijani oil destined for Israel to be transported via the Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline.

Turkiye is among the 25 countries that have supplied Israel with crude oil and refined petroleum despite the ongoing genocide in Gaza.

On 8 December, South Africa ended its 90-day visa exemption for Palestinian passport holders, citing “mysterious” flights from Israel transporting hundreds of Palestinians into the country.

The department said in a statement that Israeli actors were abusing the exemption to promote so-called “voluntary emigration” of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.

In November, a chartered plane from Israel that made a stopover in Kenya brought 153 Palestinian refugees from Gaza to South Africa. In late October, another plane brought in 176 Palestinians.

Israel has sought to destroy the Gaza Strip, including housing, mosques, schools, hospitals, and infrastructure, to make life there impossible. Israeli officials hope the destruction will give Palestinians no choice but to abandon their homeland, leaving it “cleansed” and available for Israeli Jews to settle.