by AKANI CHAUKE
JOHANNESBURG, (CAJ News) – THE South African Communist Party (SACP) has strongly condemned Israel’s reported plans to annex additional Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank, warning that such actions deepen what it describes as an unlawful occupation and further undermine prospects for peace.
In a statement, the SACP denounced what it called 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 party said the annexation constitutes “yet another violation of international law, aimed at entrenching the illegal occupation of Palestinian land.”
According to the SACP, the move could result in the demolition of more than 40 homes and affect large areas where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians reside.
The party characterised the broader pattern of demolitions and displacement as part of a long-standing policy that has caused deep social and economic harm to Palestinian communities.
Citing United Nations data, the statement noted that “since October 2023, Israeli troops and settlers have killed over 1,054 Palestinians in the West Bank,” and that many more have been injured or displaced.
The SACP further alleged that “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.”
The party also accused Israel of using starvation tactics in Gaza, stating that it has “used starvation as part of its genocidal assault on Gaza, blocking urgently needed humanitarian aid, leading to the malnourishment and death of children.”
Referring to international legal developments, the SACP said that in September 2025 the United Nations’ Independent International Commission of Inquiry determined there were “clear signs and evidence that the apartheid Israeli settler regime was committing the crime of genocide in Gaza.”
It further referenced the International Court of Justice (ICJ), noting that the court had reaffirmed Palestinians’ right to “an independent and sovereign statehood and self-determination,” and that in 2024 it found that “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 SACP argued that continued settlement expansion and annexation undermine international law and the principle that no state should acquire territory by force.
It called on “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.”
The party further urged the United Nations and governments globally “to use every material necessary to permanently halt the occupation of Palestine,” emphasising that lasting peace requires justice, sovereignty, and equality for the Palestinian people.
– CAJ News