UPDATE 1-South Africa declares Israel's chargé d'affaires persona non grata

‌South Africa has declared Israel's chargé d'affaires Ariel Seidman persona non grata, its foreign ⁠affairs ministry said on Friday. Seidman is required to depart from the country within 72 hours, the ministry said ​in a statement on its website. Israel has rejected South Africa's case as baseless.

‌South Africa has declared Israel's chargé d'affaires Ariel Seidman persona non grata, its foreign ⁠affairs ministry said on Friday.

Seidman is required to depart from the country within 72 hours, the ministry said ​in a statement on its website. It accused ‍Seidman of "unacceptable violations of diplomatic norms and practice which pose a direct challenge to South Africa's sovereignty".

"These violations include the repeated ⁠use ‌of official Israeli ⁠social media platforms to launch insulting attacks against His Excellency ‍President Cyril Ramaphosa, and a deliberate failure to inform DIRCO (South ​Africa's foreign affairs ministry) of purported visits by senior ⁠Israeli officials," the ministry said. Israel's diplomatic mission in Pretoria did not immediately ⁠respond to a request for comment.

Diplomatic relations between South Africa and Israel have been strained ⁠by South Africa's genocide case over Israel's actions in Gaza ⁠at the ‌International Court of Justice. Israel has rejected South Africa's case as baseless.

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