Israel’s ambassador to Ethiopia Avraham Neguise was expelled on Monday from a conference on the Rwandan genocide organized by the African Union in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

A statement from the Israeli foreign ministry said that Neguise was thrown out after member states refused to participate alongside him in the conference .

The ministry also condemned statements made by Mahmoud Youssouf, the newly-elected chairperson of the African Union Commission, during the event.

Observer member

“It is outrageous that at an event commemorating the victims of the genocide in Rwanda, to which the Israeli ambassador in Addis Ababa was invited, [Youssouf] chose to introduce anti-Israel political elements,” it said.

In July 2021, Israel said that it had rejoined the African Union as an observer member.

Neguise, a former lawmaker for the ruling Likud Party, has been Israel’s ambassador to Ethiopia since August 2024.

In February 2023, an Israeli diplomat was expelled from the 36th African Union summit of heads of state held in Addis Ababa.

Fresh Gaza assault

The incident came as the Israeli army renewed a deadly assault on Gaza on March 18 and has since killed more than 1,400 people, injured over 3,400 others, and shattered a January ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement in the enclave.

Over 50,700 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in a brutal Israeli onslaught since October 2023, most of them women and children.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last November for Israeli Prime Minister B enjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.