South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa on Tuesday accused Israel of war crimes and “genocide” in Gaza while presiding over an extraordinary summit of the BRICS group of countries.
In an effort to develop a coordinated response to the Israel-Hamas crisis, Pretoria is holding a virtual conference of 11 nations including Brazil, India, China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates
“The collective punishment of Palestinian civilians through the unlawful use of force by Israel is a war crime. The deliberate denial of medicine, fuel, food and water to the residents of Gaza is tantamount to genocide,” Ramaphosa said.
He called for an “immediate and comprehensive ceasefire” and the deployment of a UN force “to monitor the cessation of hostilities and protect civilians.”
“As individual countries, we have demonstrated our grave concern at the death and destruction in Gaza,” he told the summit.
“Let this meeting stand as a clarion call for us to combine our efforts and strengthen our actions to end this historical injustice.”
Following the bloodiest attack in Israel’s history on October 7, when Hamas terrorists killed almost 1,200 people, largely civilians, during cross-border operations, fighting broke out in Gaza.
Israel retaliated by beginning a ceaseless bombing campaign and land invasion in Hamas-ruled Gaza.
Over 13,300 individuals have died in the war, thousands of them were children, according to Hamas.
Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of Hamas, declared on Tuesday that a cease-fire with Israel was imminent, while Qatar, the mediator, added that talks to release the hostages taken by the Palestinian Islamist organization were “close to reaching an agreement.”
The African National Congress (ANC), which is in power in South Africa, has long been a strong advocate of the Palestinian cause and frequently draws parallels between it and its own fight against apartheid.
Pretoria pulled all of its diplomats from Israel earlier this month, and this week it joined four other countries in demanding that the war be looked into by the International Criminal Court.
Israel’s foreign ministry announced on Monday that it has also called back its envoy to Pretoria for talks.
At the meeting, Chinese president, Xi Jinping, also called for a ceasefire in Gaza, saying “All parties in the conflicts should immediately cease fire and hostilities, stop all violence and attacks targeting civilians, and release civilian detainees to avoid more loss of lives and suffering.”
He added that “The root cause of the Palestinian-Israeli situation is the fact that the right of the Palestinian people to statehood, their right to existence, and their right of return have long been ignored.”
On his part, Russian president Vladimir Putin accused the US of Sabotaging the peace process by trying to “monopolise the role of mediator” for self-interests.
He added that “Due to the sabotage of UN efforts, more than one generation of Palestinians are being brought up with a sense of unfairness to their state while the Israeli people cannot fully guarantee their own security.”
“History has vividly demonstrated that attempts to single-handedly cut the Palestinian knot are not viable and counterproductive.”
Ugochi Olivia Ubah is an Educator and a Writer
