PRETORIA, November 21. /TASS/. All countries should stop sending weapons to the parties to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said.
South Africa urges "all countries to exercise restraint and to desist from fueling this conflict, including by ceasing the supply of weapons to the parties," he pointed out, addressing an extraordinary summit of the BRICS group (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) on the situation in the Middle East.
South Africa also calls for "the opening of humanitarian corridors so that aid and other basic services reach all those in need," Ramaphosa added.
Tensions in the Middle East flared up again on October 7 after militants from the Palestinian group Hamas launched an incursion into Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip. Hamas described its attack as a response to the aggressive actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. Israel announced a total blockade of Gaza and launched ground operations in the enclave, also carrying out air strikes on targets in the Strip, as well as on certain areas in Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are also taking place in the West Bank.