Diplomat at the Palestinian embassy of South Africa, Tamer Almassri will be in Cape Town on Wednesday to publically speak about his personal experiences of life in Gaza. Al Massri lost eight family members in an Israeli attack on Gaza on Saturday. He also lost two sons in previous attacks on Gaza in 2006 and in 2012.

The Claremont Main road mosque and St. George’s Cathedral will host the diplomat at a public talk at the cathedral on Wednesday 6 August at 7pm.

“We believe this personal account of the horror of Gaza will truly convey the human suffering that Palestinians are experiencing in the Gaza Strip,” said the masjid.

Almassri’s deceased relatives include Ibraheem Suliman Almassri, his wife, her brother and the couple’s three sons and two grandchildren.

“As South Africans we relate to comrade Tamer Almassri’s pain and loss for many of us and our families also experienced tragedy while in exile. It’s also an urgent wake up call to South Africans and ourselves that every second that passes more people’s lives, are literally, at stake,” BDS South African said in a press statement.

Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, which began, early last month, have now claimed over 1800 Palestinians lives, and injured . According to the United Nations, over 75 percent of the Palestinians killed by Israel are civilians. Israel withdrew ground forces from the Gaza Strip on Tuesday and started a 72-hour ceasefire with Hamas brokered by Egypt.VOC