South Africa has urged for a peaceful resolution the the ongoing Gaza war. Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, Ramaphosa called upon the world’s leaders to take decisive action to end Palestinian suffering.
“The violence the Palestinian people are being subjected to is a grim continuation of more than half a century of apartheid that has been perpetrated against Palestinians by Israel. We, South Africans, know what apartheid looks like. We lived through apartheid. We suffered and died under apartheid. We will not remain silent and watch as apartheid is perpetrated against others,” said President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Israel has continued its incursion in the Palestinian territory since October last year killing at least 41,000 people including women and children according to the Palestinian authorities. Some nations like Turkey have called upon the Un to place sanctions on Israel.
Meanwhile, Lebanese health authorities on Tuesday raised the death toll from two days of Israeli airstrikes targeting Hezbollah militants to 564. Palestinian officials in Gaza, meanwhile, said new Israeli strikes killed at least two dozen people.
Israel’s military says it will do “whatever is necessary” to push Hezbollah away from Lebanon’s border with Israel. Israel and Hezbollah have been trading fire since the Israel-Hamas war began. On Monday, Israel launched hundreds of airstrikes in southern and eastern Lebanon, killing nearly 500 people and wounding more than 1,600 others.
Thousands of people fled southern Lebanon, jamming the main highway to Beirut in the biggest exodus since the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war.
It’s a staggering toll for a country still reeling from a deadly attack on communication devices the week before. Lebanon blamed the attacks on Israel, but Israel did not confirm or deny its responsibility.
Hezbollah again launched some 100 projectiles toward Israel on Tuesday, the Israeli military said.
