President Cyril Ramaphosa says it’s of grave concern that the Israel-Hamas truce has been violated. He has called for a permanent ceasefire and has appealed to the international community to double their efforts to find a permanent solution to the Middle East crisis.
Ramaphosa was speaking on the margins of the COP28 Summit in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on Saturday.
“It’s most unfortunate, and I did raise it in my input that, as South Africa, we are really appalled at the continued deaths that are going on, and we see this as genocide. There’s a collective punishment that’s levied against Palestinians in Gaza, and we say this must stop. There was a truce, and we hoped it would hold and transform into a ceasefire where the deaths of people are stopped.”
Israel-Hamas Truce | Ramaphosa calls for permanent ceasefire:
Fire for 2nd day
Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants exchanged fire across the Israel-Lebanon border on Saturday in the second day of hostilities after the collapse of a truce in Gaza between Palestinian group Hamas and Israel.
Iran-backed Hezbollah said in a statement that one of its fighters was killed but did not specify when. Three people in south Lebanon were killed by Israeli shelling on Friday in south Lebanon, according to Lebanon’s state news agency. Hezbollah said two of the dead were its fighters.
The Israeli military said it carried out shelling near Naqoura after spotting “unusual activity” in the area. -Additional reporting by Reuters
