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The Portfolio Committee on International Relations has noted with appreciation the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that was announced today. 

The Chairperson of the committee, Mr Supra Mahumapelo, said the announcement was a relief and will hopefully bring about normalcy in the Gaza Strip. “South Africa is vindicated once more; it gives great pleasure to realise that even Israel herself was not convinced about the correctness of indiscriminate genocidal attacks that affected so many children, women and other vulnerable groups in that region.”

He added: “Although this had come at a significant human cost to the people of Palestine we are, however, happy. We call on the international community to come to Gaza and begin to help Palestinians reconstruct their lives. This bout of aggression against civilians has never been seen anywhere possibly in history.”

Israel announced that ceasefire had been agreed to in the Gaza Israel conflict. “This was just when Cuba had announced that it was joining South Africa’s application at the International Court of Justice. So many other countries in the West had sided with us, including the US, Germany, and Ireland who recently announced that it was cutting ties with Israel,” continued Mr Mahumapelo.

The spill offs from this conflict included attacks in Lebanon and Iran. “South Africa is committed to its stance of negotiated solutions to conflict and that it remains non-aligned in its diplomatic posture. We are on the side of peace and negotiations; that is what we offer as an intervention to conflicts.”

Mr Mahumapelo also noted the swearing in of the Mozambican President Daniel Chapo after so much violence that accompanied election results of last year. President Cyril Ramaphosa attended the event in Maputo.

Issued by the Parliamentary Communication Services on behalf of the Portfolio Committee on International Relations and Cooperation, Supra Mahumapelo