African National Congress (ANC) President Cyril Ramaphosa has welcomed the decision by Spain, Norway and Ireland to recognize Palestine as a state.
Ramaphosa said the move meant South Africa's position on the Israel-Hamas war was vindicated.
The three countries announced that they will officially recognize Palestine as a state starting next Tuesday.
President Ramaphosa made the comments on the sidelines of a mini-rallies of the ANC at Kamhurushwa Stadium in Nkomazi, Mpumalanga.
“This means that our call for Palestinian recognition and a peace process, including a ceasefire, is gaining support. When we took Israel to the International Court of Justice, many people thought we were crazy, some said it was a baseless and unfounded effort, but now more and more countries are joining our case, Egypt is one of them, and there are many others. We are happy to have raised an issue of moral integrity, justice and humanity to the world.”
A warm welcome to ANC President Ramaphosa in Nkomazi, Mpumalanga:
State of Palestine
In early May, the United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly supported Palestine's application for full membership. If this application is approved, it would effectively mean the recognition of a Palestinian state.
Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris said: “I am confident that many more countries will join us in the coming weeks to take this important step. Today is a historic and important day for Ireland and Palestine.” Ta.
The decision was welcomed by the Palestinian Authority, which has limited autonomy in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, and Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip.
But Israeli Foreign Minister Katz said the recognition undermined Israel's right to self-defense and efforts to return the 128 hostages held by Hamas.
Sanchez said Israel had the right to respond to the extremist attack on southern Israel on October 7, which killed 1,200 people, according to an Israeli tally.
But the situation in Gaza was different.
“And if one thing is clear to me, it's that Prime Minister Netanyahu has no Palestinian peace project. The fight against terrorist groups is justified and necessary after the events of October 7. But Prime Minister Netanyahu has created so much suffering and destruction and so much hatred in Gaza and the rest of Palestine that the viability of a two-state solution is in serious jeopardy.”
At a pro-Palestinian solidarity camp in Madrid, students largely welcomed the announcement, but warned it did not go far enough.
European countries have different approaches, with France saying on Wednesday that the conditions for recognizing Palestine as a state had not yet been met.-Additional reporting by Reuters
