President Jacob Zuma has called for ceasefire from “protagonists” that are responsible for the onslaught that has taken the lives of over 1 000 people in Gaza.

The Presidential Envoys to Israel and Palestine, former Deputy Minister Aziz Pahad and High Commissioner Zola Skweyiya, said this was the main message that was conveyed to the Israeli and Palestine governments when they were dispatched to the middle-East, amid a military conflict that has displaced tens of thousands of people and taken lives of many innocent people.

The envoys were speaking to journalists, on Thursday, a few minutes after meeting with President Zuma, in Cape Town. They recently returned from Israel and Palestine.

They said, on Friday, they would fly out of the country to Egypt, Qatar, Iran and would meet with Hamas during their trip. 

“South Africa is calling for the resumption of negotiations towards a permanent resolution to this conflict, which is a two-state solution of a viable Palestine existing side-by-side and in peach with Israel within mutually agreed and internationally recognised borders based on the 4 June 1967 lines, with East Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine,” Skweyiya said.

The former Deputy Minister and the High Commissioner visited the two countries after President Zuma appointed them to head East to convey his concerns over escalating violence, civilian displacement and the deterioration of the humanitarian situation along the Gaza strip and the West Bank in general.

In Palestine, the special Envoys met with Prime Minister Dr Rami Hamdallah-Hamdallah, Foreign Minister Dr Raid Malki and others to try and work towards finding a peaceful and lasting solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict.

The High Commissioner said he congratulated them on the formation of the unity government of the Palestinian National Authority and asked them to maintain their unity with Hamas despite the conflict.

He said in Israel, they met with the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Tzachi Hanegbi, and requested them to apply maximum restraint and work towards a permanent cease fire.

“The delegation was well received and the ground was laid for further interaction with both parties.

“Tomorrow we are travelling to Egypt, Qatar and Iran to interact with the governments of the above mentioned countries and Hamas,” Skweyiya said.

Pahad said he believed the meetings were “not futile” and that the interactions they had with the people of Israeli and Palestine were a “stepping stone to further visits in the near future”.