South Africa's foreign minister warned Tuesday that if talks on the release of hostages and a cease-fire in Gaza fail, there will be an "unbelievable tragedy and catastrophe.”
Naledi Pandor told public broadcaster SABC that they have asked their ambassador at the United Nations to make all efforts to talk to other ambassadors and encourage the passing of an urgent resolution for a cease-fire.
“We think at the moment that everybody should be focused on an immediate cease-fire,” Pandor said.
She added that if a cease-fire is not reached, the world will witness a terrible catastrophe even worse than what it has seen unfolding.
“I wish I could say to the people of Palestine and all Muslims ‘Ramadan Mubarak' (Blessed Ramadan), but for the people of Palestine, I'm just seeing a deadly situation if the world does not address this urgent matter of an immediate cease-fire,” said Pandor.
The top diplomat said if countries with the most powerful militaries such as the US and UK could come together and say they see the harm, suffering and denial of food and water to Palestinians and send their troops to safely escort hundreds of aid trucks into Gaza, this would be a gesture of humanitarian peace that would save lives.
“At this moment…I remain terrified that we are going to see more harm to the people of Palestine…I'm totally feeling useless as a human being that we are unable to rescue people from their deadly situation,” she said.
South Africa has condemned Israel's war on Gaza and late last year, it accused Israel of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Netherlands.
An interim ruling by the court in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.
Israel has launched a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip following a cross-border incursion by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023. The ensuing Israeli bombardment has killed at least 30,631 people and injured 72,043 others with mass destruction and shortages of necessities.
The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza's population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.
