South African leader warns against regional conflict after Iran’s retaliatory attacks on Israel

By Hassan Isilow

South Africa’s president said Sunday that his country had initially warned that if the Israeli-Palestinian war is not handled with care and great wisdom, it would intensify beyond the borders of Israel.

“We did warn at a very early stage that unless the challenges and the war between Israel and Palestine in Gaza are handled with care and great wisdom to ensure that there is a cease-fire and humanitarian assistance, the war would soon escalate beyond the borders of Israel,” Cyril Ramaphosa told reporters amid the tensions between Iran and Israel and the US.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched a barrage of drones and missiles at Israel late on Saturday in response to Israel’s April 1 attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria that killed several senior Iranian military officers.

Ramaphosa called on all parties to de-escalate and desist from escalating the conflict because it is a very dangerous conflict that could soon go beyond even the boarders of the Middle East.

He said the escalation of the conflict is totally unhelpful and should not be happening.

“We should not be having a regional conflict when we know what the origins of these conflicts are,” he added.