JOHANNESBURG, South Africa
South Africa said on Tuesday
its foreign minister held a call with the leader of Hamas about getting aid
into Gaza and other Palestinian territories and denied a report of offering
support to the militant group in its conflict against Israel.South Africa's Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor
South African Foreign Minister
Naledi Pandor received a request to call Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, the
government's Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) said
in a statement, adding that the call was in line with the country's readiness
to engage with all parties in facilitating dialogue.
Local publication News24
earlier reported a statement from Hamas that the group had received a call of
support from South Africa's foreign minister. It said the Hamas statement did
not name Pandor.
"We do not have a
bilateral relationship with Hamas... Support for the Palestinian struggle
against occupation does not equate to support for Hamas," South African
President Cyril Ramaphosa's spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, said on X, the
social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
South Africa has long been an
advocate for peace in the region, likening the plight of Palestinians to its
own under an apartheid regime that ended in 1994.
Israel has vowed to annihilate
the Hamas movement after Hamas fighters killed some 1,300 people during a
rampage through southern Israeli towns on Oct. 7, the deadliest single day in
Israel's 75-year history.
Israel has responded with a
series of air strikes on the Gaza Strip that has killed more than 2,800
Palestinians. It has also imposed a blockade on the enclave, which could soon
run out of food, fuel and medical supplies.
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