Johannesburg,South Africa

African National Congress(ANC) has welcomed a ceasefire deal which was reached by Hamas and Israel to allow humanitarian aid,fuel and release of prisoners and hostages.

The deal came few hours after the National Assembly voted in favour of a motion to expel and close Israeli embassy in South Africa.

The motion against Israel was submitted by the Economic Freedom Fighters(EFF) and was supported by the ruling party.

ANC said:"The reports come off the back of the National Assembly adopting an amended motion to close the Israeli Embassy until there is a cease-fire and a binding United Nations-facilitated peace process which is sustainable.

The adoption of the amended motion afforded the people of South Africa an opportunity,through their elected public representatives,to express their views on the unfolding genocide and obliteration of the Palestinian people whose land has been illegally confiscated and occupied."

ANC leadership has been openly championing the Palestinian cause for more than three decades and the recent ongoing war in Gaza has forced South African government to take hard decisions against Israeli-apartheid regime to force it to stop what is happening in Palestine.

"The adopted motion is consistent with our long-held commitment by the ANC to stand with the people of occupied Palestine,as it is clear that the degenerating security situation is directly linked to unlawful Israeli occupation.This motion follows the ANC-led government's decision to report the senseless killing of innocent Palestinians,especially women and children,to the International Criminal Court(ICC).Despite the ICC not acting on a similar request by the Palestinian Authority in 2018,it is our firm belief that the current situation will make the ICC act decisively,"ANC continues.

The ruling party emphasised that an ongoing war between Israel and Palestine is not related to religion but is against the illegal occupation of the Palestinian land by Israel since 1948,and urged the world to do something against an ongoing war for the sake of peace in that region.

"The ANC wishes to reiterate that the ongoing war between Israel and Palestine is not a religious war.It is about the legitimate right of a people to live on their land along the pre-1967 borders in peaceful co-existence.It is about the right to land and an economy that has,over decades,has been stripped away by force and against United Nations resolutions through enforced settler communities being imposed on Palestinian land.

"To this end,the ANC calls all peace-loving people of the world to speak loud and clear about the catastrophe that the Israeli war is bringing,not just to Gaza but to the Middle East region,"ANC concludes.