South African Communists condemn Israeli West Bank expansionist plans

Illegal Israeli West Bank settlement -- Image via news video screenshot

The South African Communist Party (SACP) condemns the apartheid Israeli settler regime’s expansionist plans to occupy more Palestinian land in the West Bank, designating it as “state land" yet another manoeuvre to deepen its apartheid policy on the Palestinian people. The annexation is yet another violation of international law, aimed at entrenching the illegal occupation of Palestinian land.

The latest act by the genocidal regime will lead to the demolition of over 40 homes, in addition to countless homes which have been destroyed since the occupation. This will affect about 60 per cent of the land, home to up to 300,000 Palestinians.

This is but one of the various efforts by the apartheid regime at the ethnic cleansing. According to the latest United Nations figures, since October 2023, Israeli troops and settlers have killed over 1,054 Palestinians in the West Bank. The regime has injured and displaced tens of thousands of Palestinians in the West Bank.

The apartheid regime’s extrajudicial killings of Palestinians in the West Bank are in addition to the over 72,000 it has murdered in Gaza since October 2023, with unarmed masses and children being its prime targets. In its ethnic cleansing of Palestine, the apartheid Israeli regime has used starvation as part of its genocidal assault on Gaza, blocking urgently needed humanitarian aid, leading to the malnourishment and death of children.

For these crimes, in September 2025, the United Nations’ Independent International Commission of Inquiry determined that there were clear signs and evidence that the apartheid Israeli settler regime was committing the crime of genocide in Gaza.

This pronunciation was followed by the International Court of Justice’s advisory opinion which reaffirmed the Palestinian people’s right to an independent and sovereign statehood and self-determination. The World Court had already found, in 2024, that for the charge of genocide, brought by South Africa, at least some of the rights claimed by South Africa under the Genocide Convention against apartheid Israel and for which it was seeking protection were plausible.

The Israeli regime has violated every directive delivered by the International Court of Justice in 2024, including that Israel must take measures to prevent acts of genocide in Gaza, prevent and punish incitement to genocide, allow humanitarian aid into Gaza and take more measures to protect Palestinians.

In solidarity with the people of Palestine, the SACP calls upon the working class and justice loving people across the world to actively defend the Palestinian people’s rights to self-determination and national sovereignty, for the end of the occupation.

We further make the call to the United Nations and governments to use every material necessary to permanently halt the occupation of Palestine.