South African President Cyril Ramaphosa spoke at today’s Peace Summit in Cairo, and reiterated what many across the world are saying about the ongoing crisis in Southwest Asia. He said the atrocities, both on the part of Hamas and on Israel’s actions against civilians in Gaza “are violations of international law” and “are an affront to our common humanity.”
“We call for an immediate cessation of hostilities, the release of hostages, the lifting of the siege of Gaza, opening of humanitarian corridors and the urgent provision of humanitarian aid on the required scale to the people of Gaza. We also call for a United Nations-led negotiation process towards resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” he said. If Israel continues its assault, we fear this “will further deepen a conflict that has engulfed the region for many decades and will make the attainment of a just and lasting peace even more difficult. We are also concerned that this conflict can spread to include other countries in the region. This must be avoided at all costs.”
