South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has accused Israel of war crimes and “genocide” in Gaza, as he chaired an extraordinary summit of the BRICS group of nations on Tuesday.

Pretoria virtual meeting of BRICS — a group of major emerging economies that includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — was aimed at drawing up a common response to the Israel-Hamas conflict.

This is coming as Israel recalled its ambassador in South Africa "for consultations," Israel's foreign ministry has said.

“The collective punishment of Palestinian civilians through the unlawful use of force by Israel is a war crime. The deliberate denial of medicine, fuel, food and water to the residents of Gaza is tantamount to genocide,” Ramaphosa said.

Fighting has raged in Gaza after Hamas gunmen killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, during cross-border raids on October 7 — the deadliest attack in Israel’s history.

Israel has launched a relentless bombing campaign and ground offensive in Gaza, which is ruled by Hamas.

According to Hamas, the war has killed more than 13,300 people, thousands of them children.

On Tuesday, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said a truce agreement with Israel was in sight, with mediator Qatar adding negotiations to free hostages seized by the Palestinian group were at their “closest point” to a deal.

Ramaphosa called for an “immediate and comprehensive ceasefire” and the deployment of a UN force “to monitor the cessation of hostilities and protect civilians.”

“As individual countries, we have demonstrated our grave concern at the death and destruction in Gaza,” he told the summit.

“Let this meeting stand as a clarion call for us to combine our efforts and strengthen our actions to end this historical injustice.”

South Africa has long been a vocal supporter of the Palestinian cause, with the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party often linking it to its struggle against apartheid.

Earlier this month, Pretoria recalled all its diplomats from Israel and last week it joined four other nations in calling for an International Criminal Court investigation into the conflict.

On Monday Israel’s foreign ministry said it had also recalled its ambassador to Pretoria for consultations.

It follows the "latest South African statements" on Israel, ministry spokesperson Lior Haiat said on X without giving specifics.

On Monday it urged the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue an arrest warrant for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by mid-December.

Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said failure to do so would signal a "total failure" of global governance.

The UN Security Council has called for "urgent and extended humanitarian pauses" for "a sufficient number of days" to allow UN agencies to safely enter the sealed-off territory.

South Africa, which has long been a vocal supporter of the Palestinian cause, has been critical of the nature of Israel's response which it has described as "collective punishment".

Israel has said that it is acting in self-defence and its aim is to eliminate Hamas and prevent another attack like the one last month happen again.

South Africa, along with Bangladesh, Bolivia, Comoros and Djibouti, has submitted a referral to the ICC to investigate whether war crimes and crimes against humanity have been committed in Gaza.

South Africa has recalled its diplomats from Israel. There has been no South African ambassador in Israel for five years.