FILE - African heads of state attend the 37th Ordinary session of the Assembly of the African Union (AU) Summit at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, February 17, 2024.
Leaders at an African Union summit in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on Saturday condemned Israel's offensive in Gaza and called for its immediate end.
Moussa Faki, the chair of the African Union Commission, said Israel's offensive was the "most flagrant" violation of international humanitarian law and accused Israel of having "exterminated" Gaza's inhabitants.
Faki spoke alongside Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh, who also addressed the summit.
"Rest assured we strongly condemn these attacks that are unprecedented in the history of mankind," Faki said to applause from delegates.
"We want to reassure you of our solidarity with the people of Palestine."
Azali Assoumani, president of the Comoros and the outgoing chairperson of the African Union, praised the case brought by South Africa against Israel at the International Court of Justice while condemning "the genocide Israel is committing in Palestine under our nose."
"The international community cannot close its eyes to the atrocities that are committed, that have not only created chaos in Palestine but also have disastrous consequences in the rest of the world," Assoumani said.
A quarter of Gaza's residents are starving because of the war, which began with Hamas' assault into Israel on October 7, in which militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted around 250.
During last year's AU summit, an Israeli delegate was unceremoniously removed from the plenary hall amid a row over the country's observer status at the continental body.
Concern over conflicts and the resurgence of coups across the African continent also underscored the opening of this year's summit. Faki cited tensions over Senegal's postponed election and violence in eastern Congo, Sudan, the Sahel, and Libya. He called for a revival of "the spirit of African solidarity and Pan-Africanism" to overcome the many challenges facing the continent of 1.3 billion people.
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Riyad Mansour, the Permanent Observer of Palestine to the UN, has said that the “future of freedom, justice and peace can begin here and now”. “A finding from this distinguished court that the occupation is illegal and drawing the legal consequences from this determination would contribute to bringing it to an immediate end, paving the way to just and lasting peace,” he said while speaking in front of the ICJ.