Shanghai: The BRICS countries demanded a humanitarian truce between Israel and the Gaza Strip, leading to a cessation of hostilities, during an extraordinary summit on Tuesday.

“We called for an immediate, durable, and sustained humanitarian truce leading to a cessation of hostilities,” BRICS said in a joint communiqué.

The BRICS leaders also reiterated their commitment to the peaceful resolution of all disputes and differences and declared their support for the peaceful settlement of crises.

“Acts of violence aimed at Palestinian and Israeli civilians were condemned, including war crimes, indiscriminate attacks, and targeting of civilian infrastructure, as well as all acts of provocation, incitement, and destruction,"  the joint communiqué read.

"We stressed the need to pursue accountability. We must ensure that independent and transparent investigations are conducted in accordance with international standards."

The BRICS leaders also voiced concern over the escalation of violence and the deterioration of the situation in the Middle East.

“We condemned any kind of individual or mass forcible transfer and deportation of Palestinians from their own land. Many leaders reiterated that the forced transfer and deportation of Palestinians, whether inside Gaza or to neighbouring countries, constitute grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions and war crimes and violations under International Humanitarian Law,” the communiqué said.

The BRICS leaders also said that it is important to prevent the spillover of the crisis in the region and called on countries that have influence over the parties to the conflict to use it to “work towards this objective.”

(With UNI/Sputnik inputs)