President Cyril Ramaphosa noted on Tuesday that the Extraordinary Joint Meeting of Brics (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) leaders and leaders of invited Brics members must stand as a clarion call for countries to combine efforts and strengthen actions to end the Israeli-Gaza conflict. 

Ramaphosa was speaking virtually, when he said that since Hamas’ attack in Israel on October 7 and since the responding attacks from Israel in Gaza, over 11 000 innocent civilians in Gaza, many of whom were women and children, had been killed.

Many thousands more had been injured. Infrastructure, homes, hospitals and other public facilities had been destroyed. More than half of Gaza’s population had been displaced, Ramaphosa added.

He urged the international community to agree on immediate and concrete actions to end the suffering in Gaza and to establish a path towards a just and peaceful resolution to the conflict.

He said South Africa called for an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire and the opening of humanitarian corridors so that aid and other basic services reached those in need.

Ramaphosa highlighted that the actions by Israel were in clear violation of international law, including the United Nations Charter and the Geneva Convention read together with its protocols. 

“In its attacks on civilians and by taking hostages, Hamas has also violated international law and must be held accountable for these actions. 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,” he stressed.

South Africa also wants countries to exercise restraint and to desist from fuelling the conflict, including by ceasing the supply of weapons to the fighting parties, and to also release all civilian hostages.

South Africa is calling for the resumption of a comprehensive dialogue led and owned by Palestinians and Israelis themselves and facilitated by the United Nations.

Ramaphosa called for the deployment of a United Nations Rapid Deployment Force in Palestine, with a mandate to monitor the cessation of hostilities and protect civilians.

He noted that the atrocities that had been witnessed were the latest chapter in a painful history of suffering, oppression, occupation and conflict going back more than 75 years.

He said South Africa wanted the International Criminal Court to urgently initiate prosecutions against those responsible for the perpetration of war crimes. 

“As an important voice of the Global South representing a large part of humanity, we believe that Brics has a vital role in a widespread international effort to achieve a just and lasting peace. As individual countries, we have demonstrated our grave concern at the death and destruction in Gaza,” he said.