The leaders of the five countries included in the group BRICS –Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa– and the countries invited to join this group demanded this Tuesday in a telematic meeting concrete and urgent measures to stop the conflict in the Gaza Stripwith proposals such as that of South Africa so that there is on the ground a force of UN and others like that of Saudi Arabia in favor of an arms embargo on Israel.
The same president of China, Xi Jinpingcalled for an “immediate” ceasefire and to “release civilian detainees” in the conflict: “All parties to the conflict must immediately cease fire and hostilities, end all violence and attacks against civilians, and release civilian detainees to avoid further loss of human life and further suffering,” Xi said at the meeting.
The crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohamed bin Salman, has stressed that the Saudi position is “firm” and involves assuming that “there is no way to achieve security and stability in Palestine if international decisions are not adopted regarding the two-state solution”, taking the pre-1967 borders as a reference. , reports the Al Arabiya network. Saudi Arabia, whose political rapprochement with Israel seemed almost final before the current spiral of violence, is now calling for measures to prevent a further worsening of the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and to protect civilians. More than 13,300 people have died in this enclave since the October 7 attacks, according to local authorities.
The conflict has focused a telematic meeting led by South Africa and which brought together the BRICS this Tuesday and in which the president Cyril Ramaphosa, one of the most belligerent international leaders towards Israel, has once again called for the deployment of a United Nations mission in Gaza, given that Israel’s actions represent “a clear violation of International Law.” Thus, although Rampahosa has condemned the actions of Hamas, including the kidnapping of some 240 hostages, he has also questioned the “collective punishment” on the Gazan population, comparable to a war crime. The president has requested the intervention of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to judge those responsible for these abuses.
He has also called on the international community to adopt “urgent and concrete” actions to “end the suffering” in Gaza and move towards “a just and peaceful resolution” of the conflict. He considers that there is an “underlying cause” to the current escalation, alluding to the “illegal occupation” undertaken by Israel, and sees a new process of dialogue with the impetus of the UN as necessary.
For his part, the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, has referred to the situation in Gaza as a “humanitarian catastrophe”, calling the high number of deaths among children “terrible”. Putin, however, has taken the opportunity to extend the focus of responsibility also towards the United States, a key ally of Israel and which he accuses of “monopolizing” the efforts to try to resolve the conflict. The Russian president has accused Washington of “blocking” the activities of the Middle East Peace Quartet, an initiative that has stopped today and of which both Russia and the United States were part, in collaboration with the United Nations and the European Union. reports the Interfax news agency.
The president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has stated on social networks that during his speech he has pointed out that the “barbaric acts” perpetrated by Hamas “do not justify the indiscriminate and disproportionate use of force against civilians.” “We are facing a humanitarian catastrophe,” she lamented.
Prior to a possible agreement
The meeting between the BRICS comes in the middle of negotiations for a truce in the fighting in Gaza and a few hours after meetings between Israel and Hamas for the exchange of hostages and prisoners. The agreement that seems to be taking shape, as reported by MAARIV early in the afternoon. The pre-agreement contemplates the release of 40 children and 13 mothers, who will be released immediately, and it is expected that 10 more hostages will be released each day. All those released have Israeli citizenship. The deal is not expected to include soldiers. The exchange ratio would be 3:1, for each Israeli one Israeli would be freed. That released prisoner would choose in any case where he wants to be released.
