Speech by Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva at the BRICS Extraordinary Virtual Summit

I thank President Ramaphosa for the initiative to convene this extraordinary meeting to address the emergency in Gaza.

 I would like to welcome the representatives of the countries that have been invited to join BRICS: Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, the United Arab Emirates and Iran.

Since the beginning of the current conflict between Israel and Palestine, I have had the opportunity to speak bilaterally with practically all the leaders who are gathered here.

Brazil strongly condemned Hamas' terrorist attacks on October 7 against the Israeli people.  Three Brazilians were victims of these attacks.

On several occasions we repeated our call for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.

However, these barbaric acts do not justify the use of indiscriminate and disproportionate force against civilians.

We are facing a humanitarian catastrophe.

The innocents are paying the price for the insanity of war — especially women, children and older people.

The high death toll — more than 12,000 people, including 5,000 children — causes great consternation.

There are still 29,000 injured people, and another 3,750 are missing, many of them children.

As the UN Secretary-General rightly said, Gaza is becoming a cemetery for children.

Furthermore, at least 1.6 million people — around 70% of Gaza's population — were forced to flee their homes with no prospect of returning.

It also perplexes us that more than a hundred UN employees have already lost their lives.

When presiding over the United Nations Security Council in October, Brazil spared no efforts when addressing this humanitarian emergency, containing the present escalation and resuming efforts towards a lasting solution to this conflict.

We proposed a Resolution that received support from the majority of members — but which was unfortunately vetoed by one of the permanent members.

The Council's paralysis is yet another demonstration of the urgency of its reform.

Only on November 15 — more than 40 days after the beginning of the conflict — did the Security Council finally approve a Resolution that focuses on one of the most essential goals of any humanitarian action: the protection of children.

Presently, the challenge is to ensure that the humanitarian truce established by the Resolution is immediately implemented.

Once again, the credibility of the United Nations is at stake.

 My dear friends,

Two other topics deserve our attention.

The first is that we must act to prevent the war from spreading to neighboring countries.

The contribution of BRICS in its new configuration — alongside all other stakeholders who are in favor of self-restraint and de-escalation — is invaluable and essential.

Brazil does not believe that peace is created only by force of arms.

We have a great deal of national experience reinforcing our faith in peace created by fair diplomatic negotiation.

Secondly, we cannot forget that the current war also stems from decades of frustration and injustice following the lack of a safe home for the Palestinian people.

It is crucial to closely monitor the situation in the West Bank, where illegal Israeli settlements continue to threaten the feasibility of a Palestinian state.

Recognition of a viable Palestinian state living side by side with Israel — among 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.

The Arab Peace Initiative — presented by Saudi Arabia and adopted by the League of Arab States in 2002 — seems like an excellent starting point.

I am convinced of this group's potential to mobilize political and diplomatic forces in favor of the peaceful resolution of all disputes.

Brazil will remain ready to support all actions leading to a political solution to this conflict.

I would like to end my speech with special thanks to President Al-Sisi and other leaders for supporting the repatriation of 32 Brazilian citizens and family members who asked us for help to leave Gaza.

Thank you very much.