section_path: Politics/Foreign relations/Africa–Palestine relations
section_name: Africa–Palestine relations
paragraph_text: Africa–Palestine relations
  
  The African Union periodically invites the President of the State of Palestine to make an opening speech during its annual Summit in Addis Ababa. According to Article 10 of the Rules of Procedure of the Union, during the opening of the meeting sessions, the President of the State of Palestine in person is entitled to make an opening speech. After the Hamas attack on Israel in October 2023, African Union Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki expressed his "utmost concern" at the situation and called for an immediate cessation of hostilities; additionally, he recalled that denial of the fundamental rights of the Palestinian people, particularly that of an independent and sovereign State of Palestine, was the "main cause of the permanent Israeli-Palestinian tension ".