RAMALLAH, Tuesday, June 09, 2020 (WAFA) – South Africa today pledged to urge member countries of the African Union to take strong and unequivocal stand against Israel’s looming illegal move to annex large swaths of the West Bank.

South African International Relations and Cooperation Minister Naledi Pandor stated that she would recommend that South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who chairs the African Union (AU), to urge heads of member countries to take strong and unequivocal stands against Israel’s impending move to annex the Jordan Valley and apply sovereignty on the illegal colonial settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Speaking over the phone with Palestinian Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Minister Riyad Malki, Pandor affirmed that her country was taking action on numerous levels, including at the government, parliament and civil society levels, to counter Israel’s move, and stressed her country’s support for the Palestinian leadership’s position calling for convening an international peace conference based on the agreed-upon international terms of reference to end the Israeli occupation and establish the independent Palestinian state.

Voicing support for Black Lives Matter movement, which has led the call for justice in the wake of George Floyd’s killing in the US, she underscored the need for a similar Palestinian Lives Matter campaign in the occupied territories and abroad to highlight the suffering of the Palestinian people under Israeli military occupation.

Malki and Pandor agreed to maintain contacts to complete preparations for convening the Palestinian-South African Joint Committee and reviewing numerous agreements, signed or pending.

Regarding the coronavirus pandemic, Malki expressed his hope that South Africa would overcome the pandemic disease with the minimum loss of human life and suffering, and expressed Palestine’s readiness to dispatch Palestinian medics to help in this regard.

Pandor expressed her country’s readiness to offer Palestine any assistance to help battle the pandemic or for any other emergency.

K.F./M.K.