Hamas Attacks and Israeli Response Divide Africa, With Some Governments Refusing to Condemn Terrorist Atrocities

Those aligned with the West condemning the atrocities, but many across continent are blaming Israel for the violence.

Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, on Oct. 12, 2023. The Canadian Press/AP/Hatem Moussa

JOHANNESBURG—The reactions of different African countries to the escalating violence in Israel and Gaza depend on their histories, their current economic realities, and their alliances with global powers, according to professor Anthoni van Nieuwkerk, international relations expert at the University of South Africa.

“The statements coming from Africa in the aftermath of this horrific attack by Hamas and Israel’s counteroffensive are almost a mirror image of the patterns we saw immediately after Russia invaded Ukraine,” he told The Epoch Times.