Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Aziz Pahad has expressed concern over continuing violent clashes between armed Palestinian factions affiliated to Fatah Movement and Hamas.
”The South African government therefore joins calls by both Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Ismael Haniyeh for efforts to keep the Palestinian government of national unity intact,” Pahad said in a statement on Thursday.
Pahad said he regretted the ”deaths of more than 40 Palestinians over the last five days coming in the wake of efforts by the Arab League to boost the Arab peace initiative on the international scene”.
”… the Palestinian infighting would complicate the quest for peace by drawing the attention away from this critical opportunity to take the peace process forward,” he said.
Pahad said the collapse of the national unity government would only serve the interests of ”those who do not want to see Israelis and Palestinians living in peace with each other”.
On Wednesday, Agence France-Presse reported that Fatah and Hamas announced that a ceasefire would take effect at midnight but this truce, like two others since Saturday, appeared dead in the water as gunfire echoed through Gaza overnight. — Sapa