KAZAN, October 23. /TASS/. Peace and security in the Middle East are impossible until the Palestinians realize their legitimate rights, including the establishment of an independent state, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said at a narrow meeting of the BRICS Summit.

"Lasting peace and security cannot be achieved until Palestinians realize their aspirations for their own statehood, justice and freedom," Ramaphosa's press office quoted him as saying. "<...> The nations of the world have an obligation to promote the realization of the Palestinian people's right to self-determination," the South African president added.

He also expressed grave concern over the escalating Palestinian-Israeli conflict, emphasizing that the international community "should not assist or fund" Israel's operations.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7, 2023, when Hamas militants staged a surprise attack on Israeli territory from Gaza, killing residents of Israeli border settlements and taking over 250 hostages, including women, children and the elderly. Hamas described its attack as retaliation for the aggressive actions taken by Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. In response, Israel declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million Palestinians before the crisis, launching air strikes on Gaza as well as some parts of Lebanon and Syria before starting a ground operation in the Palestinian enclave.

South Africa filed a lawsuit against Israel to the UN International Court of Justice in The Hague on December 29, 2023. In its petition, the South African side demanded that the court recognize that the actions of the Israeli authorities in the Gaza Strip qualified as genocide because they were committed with the specific intent "to bring about the destruction of a substantial part of the Palestinian national, racial and ethnical group." South Africa has also asked the court to take interim measures to protect the Palestinian population from further violation of their rights.

The court ruled on January 26 that Israel must take all necessary measures to prevent genocide in Gaza. Later, the court additionally stated that the Jewish state must immediately halt the military offensive in Rafah and keep the crossing of the same name open to provide humanitarian aid to the Palestinians in the necessary amounts.