South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa criticized Israel for violating international law by committing genocide and war crimes in Gaza, while the country's legislature voted to suspend diplomatic ties with Tel Aviv and shut the embassy.
"The actions by Israel are in clear violation of international law, including the U.N. Charter and the Geneva Convention read together with its protocols," Ramaphosa told a special session of the BRICS countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa – to discuss the situation in the besieged Palestinian enclave.
In his opening remarks as chair of the virtual meeting, Ramaphosa said the collective punishment of Palestinian civilians through Israel's unlawful use of force constitutes a war crime.
"The deliberate denial of medicine, fuel, food and water to the residents of Gaza is tantamount to genocide," the South African leader told the event, attended by the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India and China. Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates, whose full BRICS membership starts next year, were also invited to the meeting.
Ramaphosa said the root cause of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was the illegal occupation of Palestinian territory by Israel, as reflected in U.N. Security Council Resolution 2334, which states that illegal Israeli settlements constitute "a flagrant violation under international law."
The South African leader also said his country wants an immediate and comprehensive cease-fire in Gaza, as well as an opening of humanitarian corridors.
Ramaphosa further said that the International Criminal Court should urgently start prosecution procedures against those responsible for the perpetration of war crimes.
Israel has launched relentless air and ground attacks in the Gaza Strip following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7.
Authorities in Gaza said Monday that the death toll from the ongoing Israeli attacks on the enclave since Oct. 7 has jumped to over 14,000 including at least 5,600 children, 3,550 women and 201 medical staff.
The Israeli death toll, meanwhile, is around 1,200, according to official figures.
South African lawmakers voted on Tuesday in favor of closing down the Israeli Embassy in Pretoria and suspending all diplomatic relations until a cease-fire is agreed upon.
The resolution is largely symbolic as it will be up to President Cyril Ramaphosa's government whether to implement it; a presidency spokesperson did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
But Ramaphosa and senior Foreign Ministry officials have been vocally critical of Israel's leadership during its brutal attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure in the densely populated Gaza Strip, calling on the International Criminal Court to investigate them for potential war crimes.
The Israeli Embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
On Monday, the Israeli ambassador in Pretoria was recalled to Tel Aviv for consultations ahead of the vote, which on Tuesday was resoundingly adopted by a 248-91 margin.
The parliamentary resolution was brought by the opposition Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party last week when the governing ANC pledged to support what has been a central diplomatic stance for South Africa since Nelson Mandela became the country's first democratically elected president in 1994.
The chief whip of the ANC, Pemmy Majodina, amended the last point of the EFF draft resolution calling for the embassy's closure and diplomatic suspension, to include the words: "... until a cease-fire is agreed to by Israel and Israel commits to binding United Nations-facilitated negotiations whose outcome must be a just, sustainable and lasting peace."
South Africa has backed the Palestinian cause for statehood in Israeli-occupied territories for decades, likening the plight of Palestinians to those of the Black majority during the repressive apartheid era.
The EFF proposed the motion on Thursday in solidarity with the Palestinian people over the Israeli bombardment and invasion of Gaza.
