The International Relations Minister Naledi Pandor will later today participate in the United Nations Security Council’s debate on the situation in the Middle East, including the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Palestinian health officials say air strikes on Gaza have killed more than 5 000 people. This follows a Hamas attack on southern Israel earlier this month, killing 1 400 people.
The United States says before a ceasefire can be considered, Hamas must release all the hostages who are reported to be more than 200.
South Africa’s permanent representative to the UN, Mathu Joyini, says the minister will also use this opportunity to clarify South Africa’s position on the conflict.
“She is arriving to attend open debates to be able to convey South Africa’s positions on the question in the Middle East. She will be able to convey that and not only to the Security Council but to all member states participating.”
Meanwhile, the United States State Department has confirmed that the Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, will also attend the meeting.
Women freed
Hamas on Monday said it had freed two Israeli women who were among the more than 200 hostages taken during its October 7 rampage in southern Israel.
“We decided to release them for humanitarian and poor health grounds,” Abu Ubaida, spokesman for the armed wing of the Palestinian Hamas militant group, said on Telegram.
The Israeli prime minister’s office issued a statement confirming that the women, whom it named as Nurit Cooper, 79, and Yocheved Lifshitz, 85, were handed over to the Israeli military and would be taken to a medical facility.
The two were kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz, near the Gaza border, along with their husbands, who were still held by Hamas, it added.
Hamas freed them after releasing an American woman and her daughter on Friday.
VIDEO | Israel-Hamas Conflict – U.S. calls for humanitarian access:
-Additional reporting by Reuters
