President Cyril Ramaphosa has welcomed the agreement between Israel and Hamas to stop the conflict for four days to allow for humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip.
The enclave has been under bombardment from Israel since the beginning of last month.
Hamas has been in discussion with Israel over the last few days to release hostages and Palestinian detainees. The deal has been brokered by Qatar.
Ramaphosa said on Wednesday the four-day ceasefire was an opportunity for all sides to find a permanent solution to the conflict.
“This pause, which regrettably implies a possible resumption of conflict at some point, must be accompanied by tireless efforts to secure a durable political resolution of the decades-long challenge in the Middle East.
“The people of Palestine, Israel and the nations of the region must work together with the international community to entrench the rights, peace and sustainable development of the Palestinian people as part of the multilaterally endorsed two-state solution,” said Ramaphosa.
Ramaphosa hosted BRICS leaders on Tuesday where they called for the cessation of hostilities.
The summit was attended President Xi Jinping of China, Luiz Inácio ula da Silva of Brazil, the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The leaders of Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Iran, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Ethiopia joined the meeting.
These countries will formally join BRICS as new members in January next year.
This was after the BRICS summit in Johannesburg in August formally accepted them as new members.
In the joint statement, the BRICS leaders said the conflict in the Middle East must come to an end.
Ramaphosa said on Wednesday he commended the work done by Qatar, the US and Egypt to broker a deal for the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian detainees.
However, he urged all parties that they must focus on finding a long-term solution to the conflict.
siyabonga.mkhwanazi@inl.co.za
Politics