Lula visits Egypt at a time of tension between the country and Israel

The president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) will visit Egypt at a time when tensions between the African country and Israel have increased due to the threat of Israeli military actions in the south of the Gaza Strip. Although the trip marks 100 years of relations between Brazil and Egypt, the conflict in the region is expected to dominate the agenda of the Brazilian Chief Executive. The PT member begins his first international tour of the year on Wednesday (14.Feb.2024), when he will disembark in Cairo, the Egyptian capital.

On Friday (9.Feb.2024), Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the Israeli Army needs to conduct operations in the city of Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip, to defeat the extremist group Hamas.

The region is currently home to more than 1 million Palestinians who have been displaced from other war-torn cities. It is practically Gaza's last refuge. The Israeli Prime Minister asked the Army to draw up a civilian evacuation plan.

Rafah borders Egypt and has the only crossing from Gaza to territory other than Israel. For this reason, the government of Egyptian President Abdul Fatah Khalil al-Sisi warned Israel's Western allies that the offensive in the southern region of Gaza could lead to the rupture of the Israeli-Egyptian peace treatysigned in 1979.

According to a newspaper report The New York Times, Egyptian diplomats assess that Israeli actions could force the Palestinians to enter Egyptian territory. For the country's government, the entry of refugees would increase the influence of extremist groups in the region.

Egypt's warning was reportedly communicated to US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, during the American's visit to Cairo on February 7. According to him, the Egyptian government would be prepared to militarize the border with Gaza.

Since the Hamas attack against Israel on October 7, 2023, Egypt has been one of the main interlocutors of the Israeli and Palestinian governments with other nations. Brazil, for example, counted on the help of the Egyptians in negotiations for the removal of 115 Brazilians and Palestinian family members from the Gaza Strip. Everyone left through the Rafah crossing and traveled to Cairo to then return to Brazil.

Lula will have a private meeting with al-Sisi on Thursday (11.Feb.2024). Afterwards, he meets with other Egyptian authorities. The president must also visit the headquarters of the League of Arab States.

DISCUSSIONS ABOUT THE WAR

The conflict in the Gaza Strip will be one of the main topics of conversations between the presidents. “It is always a delicate issue, which must be dealt with, among others, with Egypt because of the passage of Rafah. This issue will certainly be on the agenda, if not in specific terms about the withdrawal of Brazilians who may still be there, the issue of Gaza itself will be the subject of conversations,” said ambassador Carlos Sérgio Sobral Duarte, secretary for Africa and the Middle East at Itamaraty.

On Friday (16.Feb.2024), Lula will travel to Ethiopia, where he will participate as a guest of honor at the African Union Summit. He is also scheduled to meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, whom he called a friend, and United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on February 17 or 18.

At dinner at the Palestinian Embassy in Brasília on Thursday (8.Feb.2024), Lula repeated his view on the conflict. She classified the Hamas attack as an act “terrorist”, but said condemn “with equal vehemence Israel’s disproportionate reaction”. The president has said that military offensives in Gaza have killed mainly women and children.

At the same event, Lula said he will send more money to UNRWA, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees. But she did not give details of the amount she intends to donate.

The organization is suspected of collaborating with Hamas in the attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023. “The recent allegations against UNRWA officials need to be properly investigated, but they cannot paralyze it,” said the PT member in a speech at the Palestinian Embassy, ​​where he was honored. Read the complete of the president's speech (PDF – 39 kB).

Read more about the war in Gaza:

Historically, Brazil defends the existence of 2 States as a solution for the region, with the creation of the Palestinian State. Lula also advocates that Hamas release hostages.

The president, however, has avoided mentioning Brazilian Michel Nisenbaum, 59 years old, who was kidnapped by Hamas on October 7, 2023. In December, Lula received Mery Shohat and Hen Mahlouf Nisenbaum, Nisenbaum's sister and daughter.

According to the Israeli ambassador to Brazil, Daniel Zonshine, the government, however, did not contact the diplomatic representation to share information about the efforts undertaken to free Nisenbaum.

“I have not received information or contact about the efforts or what was done. With us, nothing was said. But they promised to help,” said in an interview with Power360 in January.

On January 10, the government declared support for South Africa's initiative to call the UN International Court of Justice (United Nations) to investigate “acts and measures that may constitute genocide or related crimes” and order Israel's immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

Lula made this decision after meeting with the Palestinian ambassador to Brazil, Ibrahim Alzeben. On Thursday (8.Feb.2024), the president defended that Israel comply with the decision of the International Court, which determined that the country avoids a “genocide” in Gaza.

15 countries in 2023

In 2023, Lula spent 62 days outside Brazil, when he visited 24 countries in a total of 15 trips from the country. He has been to Africa twice. In July, he only stayed in Cape Verde for about two hours.