South Africa urges Israel to stop ‘barbaric’ attacks on Palestinians

"Israel's actions are in stark violation of international law, and a total disregard of the United Nations Security Council Resolutions, (UNSC) including Resolutions 446 (1979) and 2334 (2016) which explicitly call for an end to Israeli occupation and the fulfilment of the rights of the Palestinian people, including to self-determination and independence," the government said in a statement Friday.
South Africa denounced the attacks on Palestinian protesters at Al-Aqsa Mosque and the unlawful evictions of Palestinians from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah in East Jerusalem to make way for Israeli settlements.
The statement called on Israel “to stop the barbaric attacks on Palestinians and commit itself to international efforts aimed at reviving a political process, leading to the establishment of a viable Palestinian state.”
It said a viable Palestinian state should exist side by side in peace with Israel within internationally recognized pre-1967 borders with East Jerusalem as the capital.
Israel continues to target the Gaza Strip with heavy bombardment, killing some 139 Palestinians so far, including 31 children and 20 women. Some 950 others have been injured in the ongoing Israeli offensive. Many residential and commercial builds have been damaged.
Tensions have also been running high in the Sheikh Jarrah area in occupied East Jerusalem over the past month as Israeli settlers swarmed in following a court order for the eviction of Palestinian families in the area.
Israel occupied East Jerusalem during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and annexed the entire city in 1980 – a move that has never been recognized by the international community.