President William Ruto came out to support Israel in the Israel-Palestinian war on October 8. He condemned the Palestine offensive and termed it as terrorism.
He mentioned that the perpetrators of Israel’s violence should be brought to book castigating the attacks. He mentioned that the attacks were threatening International Security and Peace.
“Kenya joins the rest of the world in solidarity with the State of Israel and unequivocally condemns terrorism and attacks on innocent civilians in the country. The people of Kenya and their government as a result of this express deepest sympathy and send condolences to the families of all victims,” Ruto stated.
African Leaders’ Stance on the War
The statement released clearly stated direct support for Israel in the war. Other African leaders, however, had different stances on the matter.
Algeria’s Foreign Ministry released a statement mentioning Israel’s attack in Gaza. The statement mentioned that the attack took the lives of innocent sons and daughters of the Palestinian people who fell as martyrs under the persistence of the Israeli occupation. Despite mentioning the attack in Gaza, they failed to mention the Palestinian attack on Israel which started the recent war.
Tunisian President Kais Saied also mentioned his full and unconditional stand with the Palestinian people. He mentioned that what some media describe as the Gaza enclave is actually Palestinian land that has been under Zionist occupation for decades. According to him, it was the right of the Palestinians to take back all the Palestinian land taken from them.
In addition to that, the African Union chair, Moussa Faki, outrightly condemned the war and condoled with the affected. He did not expressly take any side of the two warring countries. He, however, mentioned that the main cause of the conflict is the ‘ denial of the fundamental rights of the Palestinian People. Particularly that of an independent and sovereign state.’
Communiqué of the Chairperson of the AUC @AUC_MoussaFaki regarding the Israeli-Palestinian war.https://t.co/noofxWcmaj pic.twitter.com/90YcyTyQ2J
— African Union (@_AfricanUnion) October 7, 2023
Aside from Ruto, Felix Tshisekedi, Congo’s president, was the only other president to stand with Israel in the war. He wrote that ‘ the Head of State expresses his solidarity with the Israeli people and presented his condolences to the victims and their loved ones.’
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Israel-Palestinian War
Over the course of the Year, Israel and Palestine have been involved in conflicts between them. Some have been minor, others major that led to the deaths of thousands of people.
The Bahamas, a Palestinian Group instigated the recent war in Israel and has warranted the responses from African leaders. The Palestinian group has been referred to by Israel as a terrorist group that launched aerial, sea and ground attacks. They launched these attacks on the grounds that Israel was illegally occupying Palestinian lands.
After launching the attacks, the Middle Eastern Nation was prompted to retaliate against the Palestinian group. They therefore launched attacks on the group which led to many lives being claimed in the attacks.
The Palestinian Embassy in Kenya responded to the war in Israel by expressing frustration with the International Community. They mentioned that the International community has stayed silent about the suffering of the Palestinian people while Israel committed acts similar to the Hamas group. They argued that Israel had continued to violate the rights of the Palestinian people while the International community remained silent.
Furthermore, they mentioned that the Hamas attack was just a response to the years of suffering endured by the Palestinian people at the hands of Israeli forces.
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Kenya joins the rest of the world in solidarity with the State of Israel and unequivocally condemn terrorism and attacks on innocent civilians in the country. The people of Kenya and their government hereby express deepest sympathy and send condolences to the families of all…
— William Samoei Ruto, PhD (@WilliamsRuto) October 7, 2023
