Hamas welcomes withdrawal of South Africa envoy to Israel

Hamas today welcomed the withdrawal of South Africa’s Ambassador to Israel, Sisa Ngombane, as a result of the violent aggression carried out by Israeli armed forces along the Gaza border.

Sixty unarmed protesters were killed by Israeli army fire, the youngest just eight-month-old who died as a result of teargas inhalation.

This “massacre”, the movement said, “is reminiscent of the bloody Sharpeville massacre perpetrated by the apartheid South African government in 1960.”Hamas said it hoped “that the withdrawal of the South African ambassador will ultimately lead to the downgrading of diplomatic relations, as called for at the ANC’s 54th National elective conference, and the complete severing of ties between apartheid Israel and democratic South Africa.”

Both South Africa and Turkey recalled their envoys to Israel as a result of the deadly attacks on protesters in the besieged Gaza Strip.

READ: South Africa withdraws its ambassador to Israel ‘with immediate effect’