SA govt throws weight behind 2-state solution for peace in Middle East
Addressing the UN assembly on Tuesday, International Relations Minister Ronald Lamola praised France for recognising a Palestine state and called on other UN members to do the same.
Smoke billows from Israeli bombardment as pictured from Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on 21 July 2025. Picture: Eyad BABA/AFP
CAPE TOWN - Government has thrown its weight behind a two-state solution for peace in the Middle East at a high-level conference at the United Nations headquarters in New York.
Addressing the assembly on Tuesday, International Relations Minister Ronald Lamola praised France for recognising a Palestine state and called on other UN members to do the same.
Lamola said it was not only Israel that had to abide by international law but other member states too.
Co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia, the conference aims to adopt an action plan that will lead to the peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine and the implementation a two-state solution.
Minister Lamola told the gathering that South Africa preferred dialogue over war.
He said that the security council must condemn genocidal acts in Palestine that threatened to wipe out an entire population.
Lamola appealed to Hamas to release all hostages in Gaza, for Israel to release all political prisoners and for it to stop its expansion into the occupied territories.
"All obstacles to a two-state solution should be removed. This includes an immediate ceasefire and a commitment to a peace process."
Lamola said that last week’s motion by the Israeli Knesset to annex the West Bank could bury the goal of a two-state solution.
"Peace must reverberate in the Gaza Strip, in the West Bank and the whole of the Palestinian territories, and this is in our hands."
Lamola said there was high expectation that this conference will deliver a framework for lasting peace.