SA calls for peace in Middle East
AT WAR: Israel and Palestine attacking one another. Picture: Ahmad Gharabli.AFP
The Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) has called for a peaceful two-state solution in Israel and Palestine following the latest battle that has left hundreds of people on both sides dead.
On Saturday, hundreds of Hamas fighters launched a shock offensive and surged into Israel using vehicles, boats and even motorised paragliders as hundreds of rockets were fired, reports AFP.
On Sunday, gunfights raged in towns and on highways as the Israeli army deployed tens of thousands of forces, aiming to rescue Israeli hostages and evacuate the southern region within 24 hours. In Gaza, bombings have continued non-stop since Saturday.
DIRCO said the latest conflict was sparked by the continued expansion of the Israeli settlements on Palestinian land, reports IOL.
“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,” DIRCO stated.
“SA, working together with the international community, seeks to ensure a lasting and durable peace that produces a viable, contiguous Palestinian State, existing side-by-side in peace with Israel, within the 1967 internationally recognised borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.”
The latest battle has reportedly killed between “200 to 600” Israelis, while at least 300 Palestinians lost their lives.
Palestine lobby groups in South Africa said the conflict was because of Israel’s settlement expansion programme.
Groups such as Hamas, the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign (PSC) and the Al-Quds Foundation said Israel has for decades violated every single UN resolution and attacked Palestinian civilians.
But the South African Zionist Federation said “no amount of grievance” against Israeli government policy could justify the large-scale attack on Israel.
On Sunday, hundreds of Capetonians attended a Qur’an recital hosted by the Al Quds Foundation at Masjidul Quds in Rylands dedicated to Palestine.