Chairman of Hamas political bureau Khaled Mishaal, said Monday that Hamas signed a “letter of intent” with South Africa’s African National Congress (ANC) ruling party to foster bilateral ties and jointly fight racism.

In a press conference at the ANC head office in Johannesburg, Mishaal said that the letter entails cooperation between Hamas and the ANC to draw lessons from the latter’s liberation experience against the apartheid system, noting that the Palestinian people reside under a racist occupation comparable to the former apartheid regime in South Africa.

Mishaal expressed his pleasure with visiting South Africa, and saluted its people, leaders and parties.

Earlier, on Sunday, South Africa’s ruling party hosted a senior delegation of Hamas leaders, stirring the fury of the Israeli occupation government.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry summoned South Africa’s deputy ambassador for a reprimand.

The delegation, headed by the leader of Hamas’s political bureau, Khaled Mishaal, was welcomed by senior officials of the African National Congress, including President Jacob Zuma.

Apart from Mishaal, the delegation included Hamas’s political bureau members Mousa Abu Marzouk, Sami Khater and Mohamed Nazal.