South Africa will call in Israeli ambassador Eliav Belotsercovsky to issue him with a “demarche”, or formal reprimand, a senior foreign policy official said.

“The demarche will be asked for hopefully by today. Not sure when he will come in,” Zane Dangor, the director-general of South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation, told Reuters in a text message.

Dangor gave no further details of the demarche, a protest issued through diplomatic channels, and did not specify the reason for the reprimand.