South Africa on Wednesday blamed Israel of being in violation of international law and the Geneva Convention for shelling a town in the Gaza Strip.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Aziz Pahad condemned Israeli shelling of civilian homes in the town of Beit Hanun in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday morning that left 18 Palestinians, including women and children, dead and more than 40 injured.
”We respect any country’s right to defence but the response to any perceived or real threat could not be in the way Israel have done it,” Pahad told reporters in Pretoria.
The condemnation comes hours after the attack and after President Thabo Mbeki received a letter from chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat asking South Africa to condemn Israel’s actions in Gaza.
”I find the indifference and silence of the international community regarding the atrocities perpetrated in the Gaza Strip to be particularly worrisome,” he wrote to Mbeki.
The international community has, however, called for a halt to Israeli Defence Force operations in Gaza that have left more than 300 Palestinians dead since late June, when an Israeli soldier was captured.
Pahad said urgent action by the United Nations Security Council is needed because the situation is reaching a point of no return.
”This morning’s [Wednesday’s] killing has just taken this conflict to another level of inhumanity,” he said. ”We are concerned that the Security Council has failed to act timeously and decisively … and this only serves to weaken the credibility and confidence of people in the Security Council.”
Pahad also said pressure should be brought to bear on those who fire homemade rockets from Palestinian territories into Israel.
South Africa is due to take up a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council on January 1. — Sapa