South Africa's governing party calls for peace between Israel and Palestine
South Africa’s largest political party, the African National Congress (ANC), has called for peace in the Gaza Strip. Hundreds of people have been killed in a spiralling conflict between Israel and Hamas that started over the weekend.
Israel has launched strikes on Gaza since Saturday, when Hamas militants embarked on deadly attacks in Israel and fired rockets at the country.
The ANC issued a statement calling for UN resolutions and international law to be affirmed, saying the international community can no longer avoid its duty to act. It called for the world to intervene and ensure the implementation of a two-state solution based on the ‘1967 borders,’ the demarcation lines drawn after the 1948 Arab-Israeli War that still serve as Israel’s internationally recognized boundaries.
The party said Israel had pushed Palestinians to the brink with its persistent policy of seizing their land, which had triggered the Palestinian groups to respond.
“It can no longer be disputed that apartheid South Africa’s history is occupied Palestine’s reality. As a result, the decision by Palestinians to respond to the brutality of the settler Israeli apartheid regime is unsurprising,” the ANC said.
South Africa and Israel resumed diplomatic relations after the end of Apartheid, but contemporary ties are strained and limited due to the Palestinian issue.
In February this year, Israel accused South Africa and Algeria of being behind the removal of an Israeli representative at the African Union (AU) assembly in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – a claim that was denied by both countries.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has not yet spoken publicly about the violence. Still, the Department of International Relations and Cooperation said no lasting peace in the region is possible “in the absence of a just and comprehensive resolution of the conflict.”
Other African leaders have issued statements calling for an immediate cessation of the violence between Hamas and Israel.
