Government ready to help trapped South Africans amid Israel-Palestine fighting

As the Israeli-Palestinian fighting rages on, the South African government, which has called for an immediate cessation of violence, restraint and peace, on Sunday said it was on standby to render consular assistance to SA citizens caught up in the clashes or were stranded.

AFP reported on Sunday that the death toll in the clashes have surged to almost 1 000 since the Palestinian militant group, Hamas, launched its massive surprise attack on Israel with a barrage of rockets and a large-scale ground assault.

The conflict’s worst escalation in decades has claimed more than 600 lives on the Israeli side, the government press office said, while Gaza officials reported at least 370 deaths, with thousands more wounded on each side.

‘Existential war’

Monitoring the situation, which has led to heightened tensions, Department of International Relation and Cooperation (Dirco) Deputy Minister Minister Alvin Botes, said the solution to the conflict, which could lead to a permanent cessation of hostilities, required the implementation of the Oslo Accords.

University of South Africa senior lecturer in international relations, Dr Ahmed Jazbhay, described the latest Palestinian attack as “nothing short of a war of liberation initiated by the resistance movement Hamas, to liberate all Palestinians from Zionism and its entity called Israel”.

ALSO READ: SA calls for immediate cessation of violence between Israel and Palestine

“It is an existential war for the very soul of Palestine and its liberation from the 60 to 70 years of continuous Zionist occupation of Palestinian lands.

“Zionism is a cancer in the civilised world and continues to spread its tentacles and influence the world over,” said Jazbhay.

“Without the support of the Western world, Zionism would be no more in Palestine. This is a war of liberation – initiated in its own terms by Hamas.”

‘Level of depravity’

National spokesperson of the South African Zionist Federation Rolene Marks noted that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared that Israel was at war with Hamas “which has fired over 3 000 rockets from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory since Friday – infiltrating the world’s only Jewish state from land, sea and air, slaughtering over 350 civilians, injuring 1 800 people and taking over 100 innocent civilians, women and children hostage”.

“Footage of Israeli citizens being massacred in their homes, streets and neighbourhoods, is being circulated by Palestinian terrorists following this unprovoked attack on the Jewish state.

“Rockets have exploded in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Sderot and Ashkelon. Several population centres remain under Hamas attack,” Marks said.

READ MORE: Pandor postpones trip to Palestine as conflict erupts between Israel and Palestinians

“Elderly people have been executed in the street, civilians including young children have been abducted and taken captive by the internationally-designated terrorist organisation.

“The world is watching and the world is disgusted. Hamas are parading the naked, lifeless, desecrated bodies of women in Gaza in celebration of this unprovoked attack.”

Marks called it a “level of depravity not seen since the Holocaust”.

“The United Nations has joined 29 countries, including the Ukraine, in condemning this violence – it is unconscionable that the South African government has not done the same,” said Marks.

ANC backs Palestine

The ANC said on Sunday it stood with Palestine.

“It can no longer be disputed that apartheid South Africa’s history is occupied Palestine’s reality,” said ANC spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri.

“As a result, the decision by Palestinians to respond to the brutality of the settler Israeli apartheid regime is unsurprising.

“We are unwavering in our commitment to the freedom struggle of the Palestinian people. Amid all the clutter, we say Free Palestine.”

NOW READ: Israel and Gaza at war after Hamas launches surprise attack