Pretoria: Extending support to Palestinians, South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa said that situation in Gaza reminds him of the apartheid era in his own country.
President Ramaphosa also urged both sides to sit down and negotiate like it was done in South Africa in 1990.
In an interview to FRANCE 24, the President said that the situation in Gaza reminds him of the apartheid era in his own country, with Israeli actions against the Palestinians evocative of an apartheid state.
Country stands by Palestinians: Ramaphosa
“Country stands by the Palestinians but urged both sides to sit down and negotiate as was done in South Africa in the early 1990s,” Ramaphosa said.
Earlier this month, the escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict started when the unrest began in East Jerusalem over an Israeli court’s decision to evict several Palestinian families from the area.
Deaths due to violence
Amid the tensions, at least 212 Palestinians have died since the beginning of the fighting, 61 of them children. 42 Palestinians were reported killed on Sunday in the deadliest single strike since the violence erupted a week ago, as per Al Jazeera report.
Meanwhile, more than 3,000 rockets were fired from Gaza towards Israel in the escalating conflict, killing about 10 people in Israel, including two children and an Indian national.
Israel fired shells towards Lebanon in response to rocket launches on Monday. A Lebanese security source confirmed to Al Jazeera that Israel had fired 22 shells towards Lebanon, after it was reported that six rockets had been fired from south Lebanon.
While on Tuesday, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said that they have struck nine rocket launch pads throughout Gaza.