Since Israel launched its attack on the Gaza Strip last October, South Africa has maintained a firm stance, expressing support for the Palestinians but also condemning the group Hamas for attacking and kidnapping Israeli civilians, Anadolu reports.

Pretoria, which has been highly critical of Israel’s military operation in Gaza, has taken several measures against Israel.

In November 2023, South Africa withdrew all its diplomats from Tel Aviv for consultations over Israel’s war on Gaza.

South Africa also instructed the Foreign Ministry to take the necessary diplomatic measures to deal with the conduct of the Israel ambassador to South Africa, Eli Belotserkovsky, which they said was becoming very untenable.

Thousands of South Africans, including some political parties, students and civil society groups, held dozens of protests across the country demanding Israel to end its military operations in Gaza.

The South African government also called on the UN to deploy a rapid protection force in Gaza to protect the civilian population facing bombardments from Israel.

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