Israel-Hamas War: Brazil calls UN Security Council for Emergency meeting

Brazil, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the United Nation Security Council, has called for a meeting of the organisation to discuss the ongoing crisis between Israel and Hamas, its foreign affairs ministry said on Wednesday.

The meeting is expected to take place on Friday,

Mauro Vieira, the minister of foreign affairs for Brazil, has cut short a trip to Asia to head to New York “to participate in a meeting of the United Nations Security Council, convened by Brazil to address the situation in the Gaza Strip,” the ministry announced in a statement.

The day after Hamas launched an unexpected attack on Israel, Brazil had previously requested an emergency Security Council meeting.

The onslaught, according to Israeli forces, claimed 1,200 lives, the majority of them civilians, making it the deadliest in Israeli history.

According to Palestinian authorities, the death toll in the Gaza Strip has risen to 1,200 people, including a significant portion of civilians, as a result of Israel’s retaliatory bombing of Hamas targets in this 2.3 million person-strong enclave.

The United Nations estimates that more than 338,000 residents of the enclave have been forced to leave their homes. Members of the Security Council disagreed on how to handle the Palestinians and Israel during their meeting on Sunday.

Wednesday morning, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called for immediate international action to safeguard civilians, particularly children, in both the Palestinian and Israeli populations.

Lula posted a statement on the social media site X that read, “Children must never be held hostage, anywhere in the world.

“Hamas must release the Israeli children who were abducted from their families. Israel must stop bombing the Palestinians.