South Africa will host an extraordinary BRICS summit to address the Gaza crisis, welcoming key representatives from the BRICS nations to a virtual meeting on Tuesday.
The summit aims to tackle the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas that has resulted in more than 13,300 Palestinian casualties.
Scheduled to be hosted by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, the meeting will include leaders from Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, as well as figures from Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates, slated to join BRICS in January 2024.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will also participate in this summit.
The meeting’s primary focus will be on strategising a collective response to the over six-week war in Gaza. South Africa, known for its unwavering support for the Palestinian cause, particularly due to its historical association with the anti-apartheid struggle, has recently advocated for the suspension of diplomatic relations with Israel until a ceasefire in Gaza is agreed upon.
Other nations, like China, have emphasised the need for an immediate ceasefire since the conflict began. Russian President Vladimir Putin, absent from the last BRICS summit in Johannesburg due to an ICC arrest warrant against him, has criticised Israel’s conduct in the conflict and accused the West of escalating tensions in the Middle East.
