13/10/2023 – 21:31
The possibility was raised by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mauro Vieira, after a meeting at the UN Security Council. Previously scheduled for Cairo, the departure should take place near the border with Egypt. The 22 Brazilians who are in the Gaza Strip will be able to take a plane from the border with Egypt towards Brazil this Saturday (14/10). The possibility was raised by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mauro Vieira, in New York, where he chaired an emergency meeting at the United Nations (UN) Security Council this Friday, to discuss the escalation of violence in the conflict. between Israel and Hamas.
Initially, the negotiations suggested that Brazilians should go by bus to Cairo, where they would catch a flight to Brazil. But the initiative was resisted by Egypt, which fears that the group will take refuge in the country.
Now, however, the trip should be shorter. The Brazilians are sheltering in a school in the north of Gaza, precisely in the area that Israel asked to be evacuated, with the Israeli army telling people to head south, where the border with Egypt is.
According to Vieira, a bus should pick up the group and take them from the north to the south of Gaza this Saturday morning. The plane to be used on the trip is used by the Presidency of the Republic and, this Thursday, it departed from Brasília to Rome.
“The Brazilian government negotiated so that Brazilians who are in Gaza can leave through Egypt. It’s the only way. They would leave on that bus. And what we proposed is that they be taken to an airport close to the border, where the Brazilian Air Force plane will be waiting,” said Vieira.
Brazil defends two states
After calling an emergency meeting at the UN Security Council, Brazil, which presides over the body during the month of October, spoke out about the escalation in the conflict between Israel and the radical Islamic group Hamas, which has already left thousands dead.
Mauro Vieira, said that “neither the Israelis nor the Palestinians should go through suffering again” and that he traveled to New York to take President Lula’s call for urgent multilateral action in order to end the distress of civilians in the midst of to hostilities.
The objective of Brazil and the Security Council, according to him, is to prevent further bloodshed and guarantee urgent humanitarian access to the most affected areas.
“International human rights laws guarantee clear guidelines on what needs to be done. It is urgent to create humanitarian corridors with access to Gaza”, he reinforced, also saying that Brazil stands in solidarity with the Brazilians killed in the Hamas attacks and also with the humanitarian workers and all displaced people.
“We reiterate our support for the two-state solution with Palestinians and Israelis living side by side, in peace and prosperity, with secure borders,” he concluded.
Evacuation and humanitarian crisis
Israel on Friday ordered the withdrawal of 1 million civilians from northern Gaza within 24 hours, amid preparations for a ground offensive aimed at repressing the Islamic fundamentalist group Hamas, in retaliation for attacks on the Israeli population over the weekend. .
Last Saturday, the armed wing of Hamas carried out a devastating massacre against Israel, killing more than 1,300 people and injuring more than 3,300 in Israeli border towns and at a music festival.
Israel responded with heavy bombings on Gaza, promising to “crush” Hamas. More than 1,900 Palestinians have died and more than 7,700 have been injured, according to local authorities.
In total, more than 2 million people live in precarious conditions in Gaza, a narrow strip that stretches about 40 kilometers along the Mediterranean Sea and borders Israel to the north and east, and Egypt to the south.
gb (ots)
#Brazilians #leave #Gaza #Saturday #Egypt