Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira will chair a meeting of the United Nations (UN) Security Council this Friday (13) in New York. The meeting was convened by Brazil and is expected to discuss the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, threats to security and international peace, and developments in the conflict between Israel and Palestine. Brazil is expected to again condemn attacks on civilians in the region. As of this Thursday (12), around 2,600 people had died in the conflict.
This will be the group’s second meeting since the attacks began. The first took place on Sunday (8) and did not result in a final declaration. On Wednesday (11) President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) appealed to the UN for an international humanitarian intervention in the Middle East. He sent a message to the organization’s secretary general, António Guterres, committing Brazil to actions focused on the release of children held hostage by the terrorist group Hamas.
“Let us collectively and urgently use all resources to put an end to the worst human rights violations in the Middle East conflict. Children should never be taken hostage, no matter where in the world. Hamas must release Israeli children who have been kidnapped from their families. Israel must stop the bombing so that Palestinian children and their mothers can leave the Gaza Strip across the border with Egypt. There must be a minimum of humanity in the madness of war,” Lula said.
According to the Brazilian president, the ceasefire in defense of Israeli and Palestinian children is one of the most urgent points of this war. “Brazil, under the interim presidency of the UN Security Council, will join efforts to bring the conflict to an immediate and definitive end. And it will continue to work to promote peace and defend human rights in the world,” he concluded.
Conflict in the Middle East
Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip and is classified as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union and Israel, launched an unprecedented offensive last Saturday (7). According to the group itself, more than 7,000 rockets were fired into Israeli territory in an operation that Hamas dubbed AlAqsa Flood.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has promised Hamas a strong response to its surprise military offensive. “We are at war. This is not an easy operation.” […] “The enemy will pay an unprecedented price,” the Israeli said in a video message in which he acknowledged that Hamas had launched “a criminal surprise attack” and announced that it had ordered “a fullscale mobilization” of reservists.
UN Security Council
Established in 1948 to maintain international peace and security, the body has five permanent members: China, the United States, France, the United Kingdom and Russia. There is also a group of ten nonpermanent members with a twoyear term. Currently, the ten countries filling these vacancies are Brazil, Albania, Ecuador, United Arab Emirates, Gabon, Ghana, Japan, Malta, Mozambique and Switzerland. Since October, Brazil has held the presidency of the Council, which rotates.