MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Brazil participates in multilateral meeting in Madrid to discuss Gaza crisis

“No one can claim ignorance of the ongoing atrocities,” Vieira argued

The Brazilian Government was represented by Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira in a meeting on Sunday in Madrid, Spain, along with representatives from 19 other countries to review measures to support Gaza and pressure Israel to end the war, including potential sanctions. Vieira criticized the international community's inaction regarding the humanitarian crisis in Gaza in a meeting that also served as preparation for an upcoming conference on the Palestinian issue, scheduled for June in New York.

The Brazilian government took part in a meeting with 19 countries on Sunday in The discussions also prioritized actions to make the so-called two-state solution viable, one Palestinian and one Israeli, despite Israel's rejection of the creation of a Palestinian state.

Organized by the Spanish government, it brought together foreign ministers from 20 countries, including Germany, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Turkey, Italy, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, and Morocco.

“No one can claim ignorance of the ongoing atrocities, broadcast live daily by the media. No national interest, no consideration of domestic policy justifies silence in the face of crimes that erode the foundations of the international legal order,” Vieira said.

Itamaraty explained that the meeting also sought to prepare for the Conference on the Palestinian question scheduled for June 17-20 in New York. Brazil will coordinate one of the working groups at the UN summit on Palestine.

Israel has systematically rejected the possibility of building a Palestinian state. In July 2024, the Israeli parliament passed a resolution against a Palestinian state, arguing that it would represent “an existential danger to the State of Israel and its citizens.”

Mohammed Nadir, a professor of international relations at the Federal University of the ABC in São Paulo (UFABC), said in an interview with Agência Brasil that the meeting was bold and courageous and represents a change in relations between European Union (EU) countries and Israel.

“It breaks that relationship of blind vassalage of the European Union towards Israel. But I have serious doubts as to whether this can materialize, because many countries will continue to supply arms to Israel either publicly or secretly. Israel has a strong lobby in Europe and around the world, especially in the United States,” he said.

Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares stressed that Spain advocates the suspension of the European Union (EU) agreement with Israel, as well as an arms embargo to prevent the sale of weapons to Tel-Aviv and individual sanctions against those who prevent the construction of the Palestinian state.

“Gaza is an open wound on humanity. There are no words to describe what is happening now in Gaza, but the absence of words does not mean that we should remain silent. Silence at this time is complicit,” Albares argued.

Israel's offensive in Gaza has been considered a genocide by several countries, human rights organizations, and experts. The Tel-Aviv government denies this and says it is seeking to destroy Hamas and recover the hostages taken on Oct. 7, 2023.

The Spanish top diplomat maintained that there can be no arms sales to Israel. “And we must review the national list of individual sanctions that each of us has, and that the European Union also has, to ensure that we don't allow those who don't want the two-state solution to succeed and make a Palestinian state unviable in practice,” insisted Albares.

Between 2019 and 2023, the US was responsible for 69% of the arms imported by Israel, Germany accounted for 30%, and Italy for 0.9%, the three main arms suppliers to Tel-Aviv, according to a study by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri).

“The US rapidly stepped up emergency military aid to Israel after October 7, 2023. By October 10, the US would have transferred 1,000 GBU-39 guided bombs to aircraft, an accelerated delivery under a previously signed contract. Since then, they have also accelerated the delivery of important weapons under previous contracts and sent additional emergency military aid,” the Institute also pointed out.

Professor Mohammed Nadir added that the measures discussed at the Madrid meeting do not affect Israel in the short term. “Israel is a colonial product of the West that it cannot sacrifice,” he said.

Last week, a small amount of supplies was allowed into the enclave after more than two and a half months of complete blockade. However, the amount is much less than necessary. Israel reportedly allowed only 100 trucks to enter, compared to 500 trucks a day before the war.

The United Nations (UN) warns that the hunger imposed on the population could lead to the death of tens of thousands of people in a population that has already been almost entirely displaced by Israel's bombardments.

In 1948, with the creation of the State of Israel, more than 700,000 Palestinians were expelled from their land. Many of these families or their descendants live in Gaza or in settlements in the West Bank. Unlike Israel, a Palestinian state was never created, as envisaged by the UN resolution that suggested dividing Palestine between two states.

After several wars and several Palestinian uprisings against the occupation of their historic territories, the Oslo Accords were signed in 1993, which provided for the creation of a Palestinian state. However, the commitments were never fulfilled. Since then, the occupation of the West Bank by Israeli settlers has only increased, a measure considered illegal under international law.

On Oct. 7, 2023, the Hamas group invaded Israeli villages and communities, killing 1,200 people and kidnapping 220 others. Since then, Israel has launched an unprecedented offensive against Gaza, devastating most of the territory, displacing most of the civilian population, and killing more than 53,000 people. At the same time, Israel is advancing in the West Bank, having already displaced more than 40,000 people. (Source: Agencia Brasil)