By Kouthar Sambo

A Hamas delegation headed by Hamas official Dr Basem Naim is underway in Cape Town. This comes as South Africans partook in the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People on Wednesday.

Gratitude from Palestine

Speaking on VOC’s Drive Time show earlier today, Hamas’ official Dr Khaled Qaddoumi expressed his gratitude to South Africans for its solidarity with Palestine.

“I feel at home when I talk about South Africa because they share a common ground with the Palestinian people in their struggle of Apartheid. Palestine strives to live in peace as any peaceful nation in the world,” said Qaddoumi.

Qaddoumi further described the situation in Palestine as a “tragedy” and added that the war crimes committed in Palestine should not be tolerated across the world.

He went on and cited former South African president Nelson Mandela who stood for the rights of Palestinians.

“He shared with us the common ground in confronting the atrocities and was against the brutal crimes committed against our people, schools, hospitals, and places of worship. Mandela will always be remembered for his good words and concepts about freedom,” declared Qaddoumi.

A rude awakening

Qaddoumi added that Hamas is no longer a political party but a trend among the masses on a global scale.

“Firstly, our concepts of resistance are all over the world today because of the bloodshed of women and children imposed by the Israeli army. This is a resistance that achieves prosperity and peace for everybody around the world,” detailed Qaddoumi as he further clarified Hamas’ standing in the world.

Secondly, explained Qaddoumi, one major element of victory over your enemy is to win the battle of narrative.

“We witnessed that the youth all over the globe started to question their government for their foreign policies around the Palestinian matter, those who are claiming liberal concepts, democracy, turns out to be hypocrites as they say something and do something else.”

The Palestinian narrative

“People are questioning the narrative and starting to realize that this democracy is hypocrisy. Furthermore, the number of Palestinian children killed since 7 October is more than the number of any confrontation around the world since 2019 until today, according to the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) report,” clarified Qaddoumi.

We are really thankful to the world who genuinely feel the pain and suffering of other humans, expressed Qaddoumi, it is not only a sentiment, it is rational activism and awareness.

“Today the world is revolting against the Israeli aggressors and the extremist government. This needs to stop and there is no way an innocent little boy and girl should be deprived from playing in the streets and remain subject to Israeli aggression,” reiterated Qaddoumi.

Furthermore, the pause in aggression in the Gaza Strip has been extended to an additional day, marking Thursday as the last extended day before Palestinians return to a life of gruesome attacks by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip.

However, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that efforts are ongoing to reach a permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

May the Almighty ease the pain and suffering, bring peace, and restore unity, Ameen (God willingly).

Photo: X/@QudsNen