The South Africa government has called for the immediate cessation of violence, restraint, and peace between Israel and Palestine. In a statement yesterday, the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) said that the government was gravely concerned over the recent devastating escalation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
HUNDREDS KILLED FROM BOTH SIDES
On Saturday, an Islamist group called Hamas reportedly crossed into Israel and attacked several towns killing 700 Israelis and abducted civilians and soldiers. In retaliation, Israel air strike hit Palestine's Gaza Strip on Sunday, killing hundreds of people including 20 children and some Hamas officials. AFP reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed of a mighty vengeance as they are 'at war'. Defence Minister Yoav Gallant who was in Ofakim which suffered casualties and had hostages taken was quoted saying: "The price the Gaza Strip will pay will be a very heavy one that will change reality for generations," In a statement in the early hours of this morning, the Israeli military confirmed that their air strikes and artillery shelling struck more than 500 targets belonging to the Hamas and Islamic Jihad militant groups in the Gaza Strip overnight. "Overnight Israeli army fighter jets, helicopters, aircraft and artillery struck over 500 Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist targets in the Gaza Strip," the statement said, as per AFP.
URGENT INTERVENTION NEEDED TO FIND LASTING SOLUTIONS
DIRCO said on a Sunday that the new conflagration has arisen from the continued illegal occupation of Palestine land, continued settlement expansion, desecration of the Al Aqsa Mosque and Christian holy sites, and ongoing oppression of the Palestinian people. "The region is in desperate need of a credible peace process that delivers on the calls of a plethora of previous UN resolutions for a two-state solution and a just and comprehensive peace between Israel and Palestine,".
UN RESOLUTIONS
The department added that South Africa is working together with the United Nations to ensure a lasting and durable peace that produces a viable, contiguous Palestinian State, existing side-by-side in peace with Israel. "The international community cannot avoid its duty to act, and together, we must shoulder the responsibility to remove obstacles to peace and any violations of international law. Violence, killings, imprisonment, forced removals, illegal settlements, and the continued siege of Gaza are not conducive to resolving the conflict," Dirco added. "South Africa therefore calls on all sides to seize the opportunity for peace as opposed to violence, and for the international community to actively rise on the side of its own international resolutions and establish a credible peace process. South Africa stands ready to share its experience in mediation and conflict resolution as it has done on the continent and around the world," the statement concluded.
