Durban – Minister of International Relations and Co-operation Naledi Pandor said South Africa was calling for an immediate comprehensive ceasefire and for humanitarian corridors to be opened as the conflict between Israel and Palestine escalates.
Thousands of Palestinians have been killed in deadly bombing attacks after Israel launched strikes on Gaza following a Hamas attack on southern Israeli towns on October 7, that killed 1 400 people, most of them civilians.
Global leaders have raised concerns over the expansion of the conflict in the region.
Pandor, during the Open Debate of the UN Security Council on the situation in the Middle East on Tuesday, said South Africa was calling for an immediate comprehensive ceasefire and for humanitarian corridors to be opened so that aid and other basic services reached all those in need.
“Most importantly we call on all parties to exercise restraint and to desist from fuelling this patently unjust war and human suffering.”
Pandor said they were horrified at the blatant targeting of civilians, a clear violation of International Humanitarian Law, the Geneva Convention, and its protocols.
“Both Hamas and the State of Israel have committed these violations.”
She said the killing of civilians and destruction of civilian infrastructure in Gaza by Israeli forces went against the tenets of international law, which prohibited the targeting of non-combatants, especially women, the aged and children.
There was an added obligation on an occupying power over the people and territory it occupied in terms of the Geneva Convention, including a prohibition against collective punishment, she said.
“This does not detract from South Africa’s concern at the actions of Hamas which also targeted non-combatants.”
She said South Africa agreed with other speakers that the ultimate solution to the conflict was finalising the question of the two-state solution.
“We must work hard through the UN to create two states, Palestine and Israel, living side by side in peace and security.
“And this must be in accord with the established UN resolutions on the two-state solution. The Palestinian state should be created along the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.”
THE MERCURY
