"The 'extermination' of the Palestinian people must end," African Union (AU) Commission Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf said Saturday as he opened the AU'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," Youssouf, elected a year ago, added.

Gaza, 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.

Gaza, a small territory bordered by Israel, Egypt and the Mediterranean, has been under a strict Israeli siege since the war triggered by Hamas's deadly October 7, 2023 attack. That strike killed 1,221 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official data. Since then, Gaza's health ministry says at least 71,667 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's retaliatory campaign.

He also highlighted multiple conflicts across 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," he said.

The two-day summit brings together heads of state from the AU's 55 member countries and concludes Sunday.