The BRICS group of nations Tuesday called for an immediate and sustained humanitarian truce in Gaza during an extraordinary summit where chair South Africa accused Israel of war crimes and "genocide" in the Palestinian territory.
Pretoria hosted a virtual meeting of BRICS -- a group of major emerging economies that includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa -- aimed at drawing up a common response to the Israel-Hamas conflict.
"We called for an immediate, durable, and sustained humanitarian truce leading to a cessation of hostilities," the group said in a summary of the meeting.
"We reiterated our strong support for regional and international efforts aimed at achieving an immediate cessation of hostilities, ensuring the protection of civilians and the provision of humanitarian aid."
