PRETORIA, November 21. /TASS/. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has called for bringing the Palestinian radical movement Hamas to responsibility for attacks on Israelis and hostage taking.

"In its attacks on civilians and by taking hostages, Hamas has also violated international law and must be held accountable for these actions," he said in his opening remarks to the Extraordinary Joint Meeting of BRICS Leaders and Leaders of invited BRICS members on the situation in the Middle East.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 after militants from the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise incursion on Israeli territory, killing many Israeli kibbutz residents living near the Gaza border and abducting more than 200 Israelis, including women, children and the elderly. Hamas described its attack as a response to Israeli authorities’ aggressive actions against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. Israel declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip and launched bombardments of the enclave and some areas in Lebanon and Syria, as well as a ground operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Clashes are also reported in the West Bank.