According to President Cyril Ramaphosa, the Israeli government’s request that 1.1 million residents of Gaza leave will result in genocide.
The ANC reaffirmed its commitment to supporting Palestine as the situation between Israel and Hamas heats up.
Currently gathering in Boksburg is the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC), which serves as the ANC’s highest decision-making body between conferences.
On Saturday, Ramaphosa and the ANC reiterated their well-known political stance on the ongoing war between Palestine and Israel in the Middle East, which was precipitated by an invasion of Hamas fighters into Israel last Saturday.
Since the unexpected surprise strike, thousands have died on both sides.
To express their support for Palestine, Ramaphosa and the other members of the party’s national executive committee wore black clothing and carried Palestinian scarves around their necks.
According to ANC national chairperson Gwede Mantashe, ANC members also displayed the Palestinian flag in support of Palestine, which the party considers to be under siege right now.
As regional infighting persists, Ramaphosa said the ANC offered condolences to both Palestine and Israel for the fatalities.
The president, however, also criticized Israel harshly, stating that many people saw it as an apartheid state that has persisted in oppressing Palestinians.
He asserted that the ANC supported Palestine and her downtrodden population, who have endured more than 70 years of oppression.
According to Ramaphosa, the ANC noticed parallels between the history of the ANC and Palestine and the history of apartheid in South Africa.
“We stand here because we are deeply concerned about the atrocities occurring in the Middle East, and we have passed our condolences to the people of Israel just as we are passing condolences to the people of Palestine,” Ramaphosa said.
“We have a full understanding of how the people of Palestine have taken up this issue because they are people who have been under occupation for almost 75 years. They have been waiting and waging a war against a government that has been dubbed an apartheid state.
“As people and an organisation that has struggled against an oppressive regime of apartheid, we pledge solidarity with the Palestinian people. As the ANC, we have always pledged our solidarity, and have always insisted that the only solution, especially with the issues of Palestine, is a two-state solution,” the president said on the sidelines of the ANC’s NEC meeting.
Before what is anticipated to be a ground invasion by Israel, the Israeli authorities had warned that approximately 1.1 million residents of some areas of Gaza should leave the area.
As Israel has already closed off several exits from Palestine, Ramaphosa claimed that Israel must halt this call due to its dire ramifications for genocide.
“The worst part is when the Israel government says 1.1 million people must evacuate the northern part of Gaza, having closed all the exit routes. We [do] believe that this is a serious matter of great gravity and concern.
“We have called on the international community to direct the Israel government to withdraw this command of getting people out of the Northern part of Gaza. It will amount to genocide as many people are going to die,” Ramaphosa said.
Ramaphosa added that half a million people in Palestine have been displaced.
“We have a concern that this conflict could go beyond the corners of Palestine and engulf the broader region,” Ramaphosa added, going on to say that the government was considering the evacuation of any South Africans in Palestine and Israel.
On Friday, it was confirmed that two South Africans had already died in the conflict.
Ramaphosa said the Palestinians have a justice struggle: “Their human rights are being violated”.
The ANC’s NEC concludes on Monday.
