Statement on the Israeli Aggression Against Gaza
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – 17 July 2014: The African Union Commission Chairperson H.E. Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma has been following with concern developments in the Palestine and Israel, in the context of Africa’s ongoing solidarity with the struggles of the Palestinian people for self-determination.
The Chairperson deplores the recent outbreak of hostilities and the attacks against the inhabitants of the Gaza Strip, which has led to more than two hundred people killed and over a thousand and five hundred more injured. The civilians in Gaza continue to suffer from these attacks and intensified restriction of movement. These attacks have ruined Gaza's infrastructure and electricity cables, demolished houses, schools and hospitals in addition to seriously polluting the environment.
Dr. Dlamini Zuma also urges all Palestinian parties to stop attacks from Gaza against Israel, including rocket bombing and border attacks.
She calls upon the parties to end all forms of aggression, for the removal of all blockades against Gaza and on all to work towards creating an atmosphere conducive to peaceful negotiations.
The Chairperson recalls the AU’s full support to the Palestinian people, as reaffirmed in the Summit adopted Decision Doc.EX.CL/848(XXV) during the 25th Ordinary Session of the Executive Council of the AU held in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, in June 2014, in their quest for the restoration of their legitimate right to establish an independent State co-existing peacefully with the State of Israel.
The AU Commission Chairperson urges the UN Security Council to do its utmost to stop the on-going violence and work to achieve a just, comprehensive and lasting peace in the region based on the principle of a two-state solution, according to the 1967 borders, and apply the provisions of relevant international law and previous decisions of the Council in this regard.
