UN system ‘inadequate’ says Ramaphosa
● Leaders of 120-member Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) meeting in Uganda denounced Israel’s war in Gaza on Friday and demanded an immediate ceasefire.
Dozens of heads of state and other senior officials from the NAM, formed officially in 1961 by countries opposed to joining either of the two major Cold War-era military and political blocs, are attending their annual summit.
Israel launched its offensive in Gaza after the Islamist militant group Hamas’ October 7 attack in which Israeli officials say more than 1,200 Israelis and foreigners were killed and 240 taken hostage.
The military campaign has killed more than 24,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities.
“Since October 7 we have witnessed one of the cruellest genocidal acts ever to be recorded by history,” Cuba’s Vice-President, Salvador Valdes Mesa, said in a speech to delegates.
“How can Western countries, who claim to be so civilised, justify the murder of women and children in Gaza, the indiscriminate bombings of hospitals and schools and deprivation of access to safe water and food?” he said.
Moussa Faki Mahamat, chair of the AU commission, called for an immediate end to what he called the “unjust war against the Palestinian people.”
Nearly all African countries belong to the NAM, comprising nearly half of its members, while other members range from India and Indonesia to Saudi Arabia and Iran, Chile, Peru and Colombia.
Israel has said it is acting in self-defence and rejected accusations of genocide, including in a case brought against it by South Africa at the UN’s top court.
Speaking at the summit, President Cyril Ramaphosa said the war in Gaza had demonstrated the inadequacy of the UN, particularly the Security Council where the US has vetoed several resolutions critical of Israel.
“We should establish a system of global governance that is fair and equitable, and has the capacity to respond to the needs of all people in situations of threat and harm,” said Ramaphosa.