Deputy Minister Aziz Pahad welcomes Comments by UN Secretary-General on the Gaza Ceasefire Agreement

Pretoria - South African Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Aziz Pahad, today, Tuesday 22 May 2007 welcomed the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon's statement thanking Egypt for brokering the cease-fire agreement in the Gaza and expressing his hope that the cease-fire holds.

In this regard, Deputy Minister Pahad re-iterated the South African government's position that violence amongst the Palestinians is not in the interest of the Palestinian peoples desire for peace, stability, prosperity and a Palestinian state and therefore it is absolutely essential that the cease-fire holds.

The UN Secretary General also expressed his deep concern about continuing rocket attacks against Israeli citizens and said this was 'unacceptable and violates international law." Deputy Minister Pahad calls on the Palestinians to cease such attacks.

The UN Secretary General also expressed his concerns "by the mounting number of civilian casualties from Israeli military operations, especially the targeted attack on the home of a Hamas legislator in Gaza, which killed six members of one family. While recognizing Israel's right to defend itself, he calls on Israel to abide by international law and to ensure that its actions do not target civilians or put them at undue risk."

Deputy Minister Pahad said that the continuing military offensive makes it very difficult to achieve a peaceful negotiated solution and called on the Israeli government to stop its military actions against civilian targets.

Issued by Ronnie Mamoepa at 082-990-4853

Department of Foreign Affairs
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Pretoria
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22 May 2007.