By Ken Afor
On Monday, the South African government declared that they would be calling back all their envoys from Israel in order to demonstrate their uneasiness regarding the situation in Gaza.
At a press briefing, Minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni from the President’s Office announced that all diplomatic personnel situated in Tel Aviv would be called back to Pretoria for further discussion but did not provide any other information.
“We are extremely concerned at the continued killing of children and innocent civilians in the Palestinian territories and we believe the nature of response by Israel has become one of collective punishment,” Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor told a later press conference.
“We felt it important that we do signal the concern of South Africa while continuing to call for a comprehensive cessation (of hostilities)”, the foreign minister said.
For over four weeks, fighting in the Gaza Strip has been intense since Hamas militants first crossed the border from the area into Israel on October 7.
Since then, more than 1,400 people, with most of them civilians, have been killed in the conflict, and Hamas has taken more than 240 hostages.
In response, Israel has rained down intense bombings on Gaza and deployed ground forces, according to the Palestinian health ministry under Hamas rule, claiming more than 9,700 lives, the majority of them civilians.
The African National Congress (ANC) party, which has a long-standing support for the Palestinian cause due to its links with its own struggle against apartheid, has recalled its diplomats from Tel Aviv.
Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor went on to say that this is ‘normal practice’ and the diplomats will give a full report on the situation before a decision is made on whether it can be of assistance or if the relationship can be sustained.
Despite demands especially from nations connected to the Arab world for a truce, Israel supported by the United States has been unwavering, vowing to extinguish the Hamas militants entirely.
