Police probe SA man’s alleged role in Gaza war

Authorities have launched an investigation into a 22-year-old Sandton man’s participation in the war in Gaza. News24 previously reported that Palestinian investigative journalist Younis Tirawi identified Aaron Bayhack as a member of the Israeli Defence Forces elite sniper unit known as Refaim (Ghost in Hebrew), whose members uploaded videos of themselves shooting unarmed men in Gaza. Bayhack appears in Tirawi's documentary, called Ghost Unit. The special investigations group, the Hawks, confirmed that it is investigating Bayhack for his alleged role in the Israel-Gaza war. Hawks spokesperson Colonel Katlego Mogale said the matter is being handled by the Hawks' Crimes Against the State Unit. ‘The investigation is ongoing and conducted in terms of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and possibly for contravention of the Regulation of Foreign Military Assistance Act,’ she said. ‘The investigators are still gathering evidence. It must also be noted that corroborating evidence is needed from foreign jurisdictions,’ said Mogale. AFP last week reported that the Belgium Government launched an investigation into possible war crimes committed by one of its nationals who was identified in the same documentary as a member of the same 21-member unit. The unit also includes three Americans, two Frenchmen, a German and an Italian. The Regulation of Foreign Military Assistance Act requires any South African wanting to render foreign military assistance in another country to first apply to the National Conventional Arms Control Committee (NCACC) for the application to be considered by the Defence Minister. Peter Mashaba, from the NCACC’s secretariat office, said their office handed over all the information it had in connection with Bayhack to the Hawks.