OREANDA-NEWS  South Africa will hold an extraordinary BRICS meeting on November 21, which will be devoted to the situation in the Middle East, in particular in the Gaza Strip, the presidential office said in a statement.

"President Cyril Ramaphosa, as Chairman of the BRICS group, will hold an extraordinary joint meeting on the situation in the Middle East in Gaza tomorrow... November 21,"- stated in the release posted on the website of the Government of South Africa.

It is noted that the meeting will be held in an online format, in addition to the leaders of the countries included in the association, the heads of Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the UAE, as well as UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, will take part in it.

At the end of the event, a joint statement on the situation in the region is expected to be adopted.

On October 7, Israel was subjected to an unprecedented rocket attack from the Gaza Strip as part of the operation Flood of Al-Aqsa announced by the military wing of the Palestinian movement Hamas. After that, the organization's fighters penetrated into the border areas in southern Israel, where they opened fire on both military and civilians, and also took more than 200 hostages. In Israel, according to the latest data from the authorities, about 1.2 thousand people were killed, this number includes civilians, soldiers, foreign citizens and workers, it was also reported that more than 5 thousand were injured.

In response, the Israel Defense Forces launched Operation Iron Swords against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. In a few days, the Israeli military took control of all settlements near the border with Gaza and began air strikes on targets, including civilians, in the sector. Israel also announced a complete blockade of the Gaza Strip: the supply of water, food, electricity, medicines, fuel has been stopped.

At the end of October, the ground phase of the Israeli operation in the enclave began. Gaza City was surrounded by Israeli ground forces, and the enclave was actually divided into southern and northern parts.