Lula: We must prevent Israel‑Hamas conflict from spreading
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said on Tuesday (Nov. 21) that the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas must be prevented from spreading to neighboring countries. At the BRICS Extraordinary Virtual Summit, he said the situation in the occupied West Bank must be closely monitored.
“We must work to prevent the war from spreading to neighboring countries. The contribution of the BRICS, in its new configuration, along with all the actors in favor of self-restraint and de-escalation, is valuable and essential,” he declared.
“We have extensive national experience that reinforces our faith in peace brought about by fair diplomatic negotiation. Secondly, we must not forget that the current war also stems from decades of frustration and injustice, made manifest by the absence of a safe home for the Palestinian people,” he added.
In the president’s view, illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank continue to threaten the viability of a Palestinian state. “The recognition of a viable Palestinian state, living side by side with Israel, with secure and mutually recognized borders, is the only possible solution. We need to resume the peace process between Israel and Palestine as soon as possible.”
At the BRICS Summit in August this year, the bloc approved the admission of six new member countries: Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates—some of them directly involved in the conflict in the Middle East. The new format takes effect in January 2024.
United Nations
The challenge at the moment, President Lula went on to argue, is to ensure that the humanitarian truce determined by a United Nations (UN) resolution is implemented immediately. On November 15, the UN Security Council approved the first resolution on the current humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. The text was backed by Brazil.
The resolution, focusing on the protection of children, was proposed by Malta and was approved with 12 votes in favor. The US, the UK, and Russia abstained. The text calls for the implementation of urgent and prolonged humanitarian pauses and corridors throughout the Gaza Strip for a sufficient number of days, so that emergency humanitarian aid can be provided to the civilian population by specialized UN agencies, the International Red Cross, and other impartial humanitarian institutions.
