Johnathan Paoli
Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni lashed out at the state of Israel over its exacerbation of the ongoing conflict in the Middle-Eastern region.
The Minister was briefing the media on Monday morning, on the outcomes of the Cabinet meeting held on 1 November, last week.
Ntshavheni said the South African government has decided to withdraw all of its diplomatic staff from Tel Aviv in Israel for consultation.
“The position of the Ambassador of Israel to SA is becoming untenable, ” said Ntshavheni.
“A genocide under the watch of the international community cannot be tolerated,” Ntshavheni said adding that the Cabinet believes that Israel is harming the global peace order and the system underpinning it, by allowing for similar conduct by others in their geopolitical context.
Ntshaveni’s statement comes after a previous call by SA for Israel to adhere to its obligations under international law and protect civilians as required under the Geneva Conventions and under International Humanitarian Law.
South Africa is also peeved at Israel’s ongoing threats to bomb hospitals especially the al-Shifa and al-Quds hospitals where the country invested resources together with its IBSA partners (India and Brazil) to build a state-of-the-art cardiothoracic unit over six years ago when Israel was preventing Gazans getting medical treatment in the West Bank.
Threats to bomb the hospital puts this investment at risk, but more importantly, countless human lives, she said.
ANC deputy secretary-general Nomvula Mokonyane said last month that the Israeli embassy in South Africa must close its doors and the ambassador must leave his diplomatic station.
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