A 22-year-old Sandton resident has been accused of terrible war crimes against the Palestinian people.
Al Jazeera’s program exposed Aaron Bayhack as a member of an elite Israeli sniper unit responsible for killing civilians in Khan Younis and Gaza City.
According to Al Jazeera, Bayhack was a member of the 202 paratrooper unit, which is made up of approximately 18 guys from various countries. Notably, one Somali was among them.
Bayhack and his team allegedly targeted civilians, including men, women, children, the elderly, and the wounded, while attacking hospitals in Gaza.
Nebal Farsakh, a spokesperson for the Red Crescent Society, a humanitarian movement, told the news outlet: “Israeli snipers directly targeted Al-Quds hospital with live ammunition.”
🧵1/19 EXCLUSIVE
In an unprecedented & biggest investigation into war crimes in Gaza, we expose the elite & secretive IDF sniper team, the Ghost Unit "Refaim" & their brutal executions of unarmed civilians
Soldiers from Paris, Munich, Illinois, Brussel, Johannesburg, Italy-> pic.twitter.com/0N2asIubvV
— Younis Tirawi | يونس (@ytirawi) October 4, 2024
A woman at a targeted hospital told Al Jazeera that she witnessed a fatality the night before. “While we were dying, we witnessed death itself. We have nowhere else to go. “Where should we go?”
In 2023, the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) voiced grave concern about accusations that certain South African citizens and permanent residents had joined or were considering joining the IDF.
It went on to say that such behavior might potentially lead to the violation of international law and the conduct of other international crimes, making them eligible for prosecution in the country.
“Anyone who wishes to provide foreign military assistance in Israel must first apply to the National Conventional Arms Control Committee (NCACC).Anyone who joins the IDF without the appropriate permission violates the law and may face prosecution.
“In addition, the South African Citizenship Act, 1995 (Act No. 88 of 1995) provides that any person who obtained South African citizenship by naturalisation in terms of that Act shall cease to be a South African citizen if he or she engages under the flag of another country in a war that the Republic does not support or agree with,” the DIRCO spokesperson stated.
Snipers are responsible for part of the video in the documentary. It depicts the killing of multiple people who appear to be strolling and unarmed.
One battalion member, a 22-year-old male, told the documentary crew that there is a line that Palestinians are unaware of; anyone in his line of sight will be shot.
He said everyone of military age walking near the bombardment is a terrorist.
“Gaza resembles Sodom. Those who like there are similar to Amalek. “That population is very similar to the Amalek,” he explained.