South Africa’s foreign ministry strongly denounced on Saturday the Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip which started last Friday and claimed the lives of many civilians including children and women.
The Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) said that it is gravely concerned that Israeli military statements indicate that the operation would “take a long time” and that ongoing Israeli attacks continue to place innocent civilians at severe risk.
The Israeli government launched on Friday what it dubbed “preemptive” airstrikes in the Gaza Strip citing an “imminent threat of attack” by the Islamic Jihad Movement.
This Israeli escalation happened a few days after the arrest of Bassam al-Saadi one of Islamic Jihad’s top leaders in the West Bank during a violent raid on his home in Jenin City.
“Attacks that kill innocent civilians have no justification and they are more abhorrent as they are committed by an occupying power which has besieged the Gaza Strip for over a decade in contravention of international law” DIRCO stated.
“As an occupying power Israel has specific obligations in terms of international human rights and humanitarian law which it continues to breach without being held accountable” DIRCO spokesperson Clayson Monyela said in a statement.
Monyela also said that “Israeli forces killing children in its attacks against Gaza needs to be addressed.”
“The International community has an obligation to ensure that international law is not violated indiscriminately and to urgently stop the Israeli occupation forces’ repeated attacks against civilians” the spokesman added.
He conveyed DIRCO minister Naledi Pandor’s concern over the ongoing attacks on Gaza.
“Israel’s security and that of its future generations do not lie in the annexation of all Palestinian territories the imprisonment of Palestinians the erecting of high concrete walls and checkpoints or the continued blockade of Gaza. Rather it lies in a peaceful and stable neighbor a sovereign and independent Palestinian State whose children like Israeli children can go to school play attend places of worship and compete in sporting activities in peace and security. This can be achieved through sustained dialogue negotiations and mediation by both sides respecting one another and through compromise and understanding” minister Pandor said.
In a related context Malaysia also condemned the Israeli attacks on Gaza which resulted in the loss of lives of Palestinian civilians including children
In a statement Saturday foreign minister Saifuddin Abdullah urged the international community to urgently pressure the Israeli regime to immediately cease its violations and aggression against the Palestinians.
Minister Abdullah said Israel’s latest atrocities in Gaza were indeed a blatant disregard for the international law and the humanitarian principles.
“The international community must censure Israel over its selfish provocative assaults and apartheid policy against the fundamental rights lives livelihood and dignity of the Palestinians of all faiths on their own land. There should not be any double standards in addressing conflicts” he said.
He reiterated his country’s unwavering support for and solidarity with the Palestinian people their national cause and their struggle for liberation from the Israeli occupation.
At least 31 Palestinians were killed and about 284 others were injured during three days of devastating and deadly airstrikes launched by Israeli occupation army on the embattled and densely-populated Gaza Strip.
