South Africa has announced the withdrawal of its diplomats from Israel amid rising civilian casualties in the ongoing war with Hamas. The diplomat is being recalled as part of a review of relations with Israel.
On Monday, South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor informed this information. Aljazeera news.
Naledi Pandor called the withdrawal of diplomats ‘normal’. However, there is no South African ambassador in Israel.
Naledi said South Africa is deeply concerned about the continued killing of children and innocent civilians in the Palestinian territories. He said, “We believe that the nature of Israel’s response has amounted to collective punishment.” South Africa will continue to call for a ceasefire in Palestine.
South Africa has long been working for peace in the Middle East and in support of the Palestinians. The country has compared the unspeakable persecution of Palestinians to the plight of the apartheid regime that ended in 1994.
Earlier, Bolivia severed diplomatic relations with Israel on the same complaint. In addition, Colombia, Chile, Honduras, Turkey, Jordan and Bahrain withdrew their ambassadors from Israel.
The death toll of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank has risen to 9,922 in the four-week-long war.
