Friday 17,Jun 2025 {HMC} The African Union, Somalia and South Africa welcomed a cease-fire agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas resistance group.
African Union Commission chief Moussa Faki Mahamat said: “I wish to commend the crucial role played by Qatar, Egypt & the USA.”
He said the continental body calls for the immediate and full implementation of the agreement and wishes that justice and peace prevail for the people of Palestine.
Welcoming the pact, South Africa called for the implementation of a “just and lasting peace that ensures the human rights of both Palestinians and Israelis are protected and promoted.”
“The ceasefire agreement is a crucial first step toward ending the severe humanitarian crisis faced by the 2.3 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, which the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has deemed to be plausibly genocidal,” a Foreign Ministry statement said.
It said the cease-fire “must lay the basis for a just peace which should include the establishment of a contiguous, independent, and viable Palestinian state.”
“Palestinian sovereignty and territorial integrity must be upheld. It is imperative that no land is annexed in either Gaza or the West Bank following the cease-fire, and that illegal settlement expansion is halted,” it added.
South Africa, which dragged Israel to the ICJ over Gaza, said the successive rulings and provisional measures of the top UN court “must be adhered to by the occupying power. International law and humanitarian law must be respected and upheld.”
Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud also commended the efforts of Qatar, Egypt, and the US in brokering the agreement.
Mohamud emphasized the importance of sustaining the cease-fire and urged the international community to expedite the delivery of urgent humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza.
“With this agreement, I stress the need for collective efforts to stabilize the ceasefire and prioritize the swift provision of humanitarian assistance to alleviate the suffering in Gaza,” he said in a statement issued by the presidency on Thursday.
The Horn of Africa nation reaffirmed its commitment to supporting peace and reiterated the country’s stance on the Palestinian cause, advocating for a just and comprehensive solution.
Mahmoud underscored the necessity of establishing an independent and sovereign Palestinian state based on the two-state solution.
On Wednesday, Qatari Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman announced the success of mediators in reaching a cease-fire agreement in the Gaza Strip, noting that its implementation will begin this Sunday.
The announcement comes on the 467th day of Israel’s genocide in Gaza, which has killed and injured over 156,000 Palestinians, the majority of whom are women and children.
The war has left more than 11,000 people missing, with widespread destruction and a humanitarian crisis that has claimed the lives of many elderly people and children in one of the worst global humanitarian disasters ever.
*Riyaz ul Khaliq in Istanbul contributed to this report.
SOURCE
Mohamed Dhaysane
