'Extermination' of Palestinians must stop: African Union chair

The "extermination" of the Palestinian people must end, the chairman of the African Union Commission Mahmoud Ali Youssouf said on Saturday as he launched the organisation's 39th summit.

"In the Middle East, Palestine and the suffering of its people also challenge our consciences. The extermination of this people must stop," said Youssouf, who was elected to head the institution a year ago.

The Gaza Strip, a small territory surrounded by Israel, Egypt, and the Mediterranean Sea, has been under a very strict Israeli siege since the start of the war triggered by Hamas's deadly attack on October 7, 2023.

That attack resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to Israeli figures.

Since then, at least 71,667 Palestinians have been killed in the small coastal territory by Israel's military campaign, according to Gaza's health ministry.

He also touched on the multiple conflicts raging in Africa.

"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," Youssouf said.

The summit brings together heads of state from the 55 member states of the African Union over two days.

This year's theme is water sanitation.