The Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) has condemned the “targeted” assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas, who was killed by an airstrike in Tehran in the early hours of Wednesday.
According to reports, Haniyeh was killed while attending the inauguration of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in Iran’s capital, Tehran.
One of Haniyeh’s bodyguards was also killed, according to reports.
“The government expresses its heartfelt condolences to the Haniyeh family as well as to the leadership and people of Palestine,” the department said in a statement.
“South Africa is concerned that the assassination of Haniyeh and the continuous targeting of civilians in Gaza will further spiral the already tense situation in the entire region.”
South Africa has since called for a “thorough” investigation to be conducted and called on all parties to exercise the utmost restraint to avoid any acts that would escalate tensions in the particularly fragile region.
International Relations and Cooperation Minister, Ronald Lamola, stressed that such acts of extrajudicial killings violate international law and the principles of human rights, undermining global efforts to promote peace and stability in the Middle East.
“No country is above the law and all nations must respect international law, particularly the principles outlined in the United Nations Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
“Any form of extrajudicial killing is a blatant violation of these principles and extra-judicial killings of this nature have a destabilising effect. It is crucial that the perpetrators of such actions must be brought to justice,” Lamola added.
The department said the assassination of Haniyeh occurred in the context of the nine-month onslaught in Gaza where the ongoing bombardment by Israel has resulted in thousands of civilian casualties, almost half of which are children, and created an “unspeakable man-made humanitarian catastrophe”.
“Haniyeh was an integral member of the negotiating team, working with other countries to secure a comprehensive and permanent ceasefire and bring the war to Gaza to an end.”
South Africa reiterated its view that the international community must act immediately to end the genocide in Gaza, impunity, end the aggression meted out against Palestinians and the illegal occupation by Israel.
“It is our collective human duty to call for a comprehensive and permanent ceasefire. Nothing can justify the deliberate killings and injuring of civilians as an entire population endures destruction at a scale and speed without parallel in recent history.
“Continuing Israeli occupation, destruction of infrastructure, collective punishment, and extrajudicial assassinations would make the realisation of a peaceful solution in the Middle East much more difficult to achieve,” the statement read. – SAnews.gov.za
