The chairman of the African Union Commission, Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, on Saturday called for an end to the "extermination" of the Palestinian people, as the Israeli army continues to breach a US-brokered ceasefire reached with Hamas in October.
Addressing the African Union summit in Addis Ababa, Mr Youssouf urged the international community to uphold humanitarian law.
"In the Middle East, Palestine and the suffering of its people also challenge our consciences. The extermination of this people must stop," said Mr Youssouf, a Djiboutian diplomat who was elected to head the commission a year ago.
"International law and international humanitarian law are the foundation of the international community. Preserving and promoting them remain the only guarantees of peace in the world."
A ceasefire agreement reached in October was intended to halt two years of devastating war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, where Israel killed more than 72,000 Palestinians and wounded 171,000 others.
But the truce has brought little respite for Gazans, as deadly Israeli strikes continue and aid access remains limited. Since the ceasefire began, Israel has killed 591 people, health authorities in Gaza have said.
The conflict was sparked when Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting about 250.
In addition to the plight of Palestinians, Mr Youssouf also addressed Africa’s multiple conflicts.
"From Sudan to the Sahel, to eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, in Somalia and elsewhere, our people continue to pay the heavy price of instability," he said.
The summit brings together heads of state from the African Union’s 55 member states over two days. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is attending as a guest of honour.
While this year's theme is water sanitation, the civil war in Sudan is expected to dominate high-level security talks.
The summit comes as regional and international mediators struggle to secure a lasting ceasefire in the war-torn country.
The war started when tension between Sudan's army chief and de facto leader, Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan, and RSF commander Gen Mohamed Dagalo, over the future of the armed forces and the paramilitary group in a democratic Sudan, erupted into fighting. The conflict quickly engulfed the capital, Khartoum, and then spread across most of the vast Afro-Arab nation.
Nearly three years into the war, tens of thousands of people have been killed and about 13 million displaced. The country is suffering one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, with nearly half the population – 25 million – facing hunger. The UN has accused both sides of committing war crimes.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called on Sudanese warring sides to immediately halt hostilities.
"In Sudan, the parties must commit to an immediate cessation of hostilities and resume talks towards a lasting ceasefire and comprehensive, inclusive and Sudanese-owned political process," Mr Guterres told the summit.
Sudan was suspended from the African Union in October 2021 following the military coup that toppled the country’s transitional government, which had been led by civilian and military leaders after the ousting of longtime ruler Omar Al Bashir in 2019. The suspension was part of the pan-African body’s long-standing policy of opposing unconstitutional changes of government in member states.
