On Tuesday, November 21, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa accused Israel of “war crimes” and of “genocide” in Gaza and demanded a “immediate and complete ceasefire”by opening an extraordinary virtual summit of emerging BRICS countries dedicated to this conflict.
“The collective punishment of Palestinian civilians through Israel’s illegal use of force is a war crime”declared Mr. Ramaphosa in his opening remarks at this meeting of the bloc of five countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), in which Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese Xi Jinping are to participate. “The deliberate refusal to provide medicine, fuel, food and water to the people of Gaza amounts to genocide”added Mr. Ramaphosa.
“We urge the international community to agree on urgent and concrete actions to end the suffering in Gaza and pave the way for a just and peaceful resolution to this conflict”, he pleaded, establishing a list of these proposed actions. Besides a ceasefire “immediate and complete”he requested the deployment of a rapid United Nations force to “monitor the cessation of hostilities” And “protect civilians”. He also pleaded for ” all countries “ do “show restraint and stop fueling this conflict, in particular by ceasing to supply weapons to the parties”.
“Historical injustice”
Pretoria announced on Monday this extraordinary meeting of the BRICS, which campaign for a global balance less influenced by Washington and the European Union, at the end of which its leaders “should adopt a joint declaration”.
“Each of our countries has expressed deep concern over the death and destruction in GazaMr. Ramaphosa further declared. This meeting should encourage us to unite our efforts (…) to put an end to this historic injustice. »
South Africa is one of the countries most critical of the massive and deadly Israeli bombings on the Gaza Strip, in retaliation for the bloody attacks in Israel carried out on October 7 by Hamas, which then controlled Gaza.
Mr. Ramaphosa had requested on Friday with four other States an investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC) into this war.
Pretoria also announced at the beginning of the month that it had recalled its diplomats stationed in Israel for consultations. And on Monday Israel announced the recall of its ambassador to South Africa.
“Humanitarian disaster”
Pretoria has long been a staunch defender of the Palestinian cause, with the African National Congress (ANC), the party in power since the election of Nelson Mandela in 1994, often drawing parallels with its own historic struggle against apartheid.
China, which also supports a two-state solution and has called for an immediate ceasefire since the start of the war, had already called on the international community on Monday to “act urgently” to end the “humanitarian catastrophe” in Gaza. In Pretoria, Xi Jinping, for his part, called for a “international conference for peace” to find “a just solution to the question of Palestine”.
On the Russian side, Vladimir Putin strives to present himself as the champion of the fight against American hegemonism, placing his assault on Ukraine in this perspective. The Kremlin calls for a ceasefire in Gaza and repeats that the only way to achieve lasting peace in the Middle East is the creation of a Palestinian state. Mr. Putin believes that the United States is responsible for the ongoing deadly conflict, and accuses it of having monopolized the Israeli-Palestinian peace process for years without ever succeeding in finding solutions.