Leaders of the BRICS group of nations have called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and an international conference to address the decades-long Israel–Palestinian conflict.
Leaders of the five-nation bloc (made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) made the appeal at a Nov. 21 virtual summit that was convened to discuss Israel’s ongoing military campaign in the Gaza Strip.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who chaired the summit, urged an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the opening of humanitarian corridors, and the release of civilian hostages held by Palestinian faction Hamas.
Hamas, which has governed the embattled Gaza Strip since 2006, is viewed as a terrorist group by the United States, the UK, and the European Union.
Mr. Ramaphosa also urged the United Nations to dispatch rapid-deployment forces to Gaza “to monitor a cessation of hostilities and protect civilians.”
He also called on other countries to “exercise restraint” and “desist from fueling the conflict by halting the supply of weapons to the [warring] parties.”
The South African leader went on to assert that Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip were in “clear violation of international law, the U.N. Charter, and the Geneva Conventions.”
According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which is controlled by Hamas, more than 14,000 Palestinians have been killed—mostly women and children—since Israel began its campaign last month after Hamas terrorists crossed the border and killed 1,200 Israelis—civilian and military—and took hundreds more hostage on Oct. 7.
“Many thousands more [Gazans] have been injured, while homes, hospitals, and other public facilities have been destroyed,” Mr. Ramaphosa told summit attendees.
He also noted that more than half of Gaza’s total population—some 2 million people—had been displaced by ongoing Israeli airstrikes.
In his remarks to the summit, Mr. Ramaphosa made clear that Hamas had “also violated international law and must be held accountable for its actions.”
Since 2007, the Gaza Strip has remained subject to a crippling blockade by Israel and Egypt, both of which share borders with the Palestinian enclave.
Critics of this longstanding containment policy have described the densely-populated Gaza Strip—only 225 square miles in size—as the “world’s largest open-air prison.”
Addressing the summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin urged the international community to “join forces” with a view to “easing tensions, ensuring a ceasefire, and finding a political solution to the Israel–Palestine conflict.”
In this regard, BRICS members and regional states “can play a key role,” according to Mr. Putin.
“This is why the participation of our Middle Eastern colleagues at today’s summit, who have been invited to join BRICS as full members, is particularly important.”
In August, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Ethiopia, Egypt, Argentina, and the United Arab Emirates were invited to join the bloc as full members.
Representatives of all six countries, along with U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, attended the Nov. 21 virtual summit.
Shortly before the event, the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Indonesia, and the Palestinian Authority arrived in Moscow, where they held talks with their Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov.
“All the BRICS countries agree on the need ... to find a long-term solution to the perennial Israel–Palestine dispute,” Mr. Putin told summit attendees.
He also hailed a Malta-drafted resolution, adopted last week by the U.N. Security Council, that called for a “pause” in the violence in Gaza to allow humanitarian aid into the besieged coastal enclave.
“Although the resolution only calls for a ‘pause’ and not for a ‘ceasefire,’ we see its adoption as a step in the right direction,” Mr. Putin said.
In diplomatic parlance, “pauses” are generally regarded as less binding—and briefer—than “ceasefires,” which both warring parties must agree to.
Addressing attendees, Chinese regime leader Xi Jinping called for an international summit to resolve the decades-long conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.
“Until a fair solution to the Palestinian issue is found, there can be no lasting peace or stability in the Middle East,” he said.
In a final statement, BRICS leaders asserted that a “just and lasting” solution to the perennial Middle East conflict “can only be achieved by peaceful means.”
They went on to call for “direct negotiations based on international law, including relevant U.N. Security Council and General Assembly resolutions and the [2002] Arab Peace Initiative.”
According to the final statement, talks should be aimed at reaching a “two-state solution” to the Middle East dispute, “leading to the establishment of a sovereign, independent, and viable state of Palestine.”
