South African president expresses solidarity with Palestinians against Israeli offensive

ISTANBUL (AA) - South African President Cyril Ramaphosa expressed solidarity with Palestinians on Saturday in a video posted on X.

“The main way to address the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is to implement the two-state solution and establish an independent Palestinian state,” Ramaphosa said in the clip, wearing the Palestinian Kufiyah -- an icon of Palestinian resistance.

"We extend our condolences to the families of the civilian victims during the recent clashes on both sides (Gaza Strip and Israel)," he said.

“The Israeli order to evacuate more than a million people from northern Gaza to its south would make the matter worse," he said.

He affirmed "South Africa's solidarity with the Palestinian people and its support for a peaceful solution,” and stressed that "a peaceful solution to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine will reflect positively on the entire Middle East."

The Gaza Strip, which has been besieged since 2006, has been subjected to intense Israeli air strikes that destroyed entire neighborhoods, as the Israeli army launched its Iron Swords military operation last week.

At dawn Oct. 7, the Hamas movement and other Palestinian factions in Gaza, launched Operation Al-Aqsa Flood in response to “the continuing attacks by Israeli forces and settlers against the Palestinian people, their property, and their sanctities, especially Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem.”