DA rejects Netanyahu's comments opposing establishment of Palestinian state

CAPE TOWN - The Democratic Alliance (DA) says it rejects Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's recent comments opposing the establishment of a Palestinian state.

This in another public statement on the war in Gaza by the DA since the war broke out in October last year.

The party has also faced criticism from within its own ranks on the matter, which led to the resignation of MP Ghaleb Cachalia, who called the war a genocide. 

DA international relations spokesperson, Emma Louise Powell, on Friday released the party's first statement critical of Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

She was reacting to Netanyahu's claim that Israel must have "security control" over all territory west of the Jordan River, acknowledging that this "collides with the idea of sovereignty".

She said throughout the war, the DA had remained steadfast in its commitment to a two-state solution.

Powell said the solution should result in the creation of a sovereign and unoccupied Palestine co-existing in peace next to a secure Israel.

She said a two-state solution was the only way to bring lasting peace to the region - a view shared by the vast majority of the free world.

Powell said the DA had warned from the start of the conflict that for peace to be possible, rationality must triumph over radicalism.