Brazilian, Egyptian presidents call for immediate ceasefire in Gaza

1 / 2
Lula da Silva and Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. (Ricardo Stuckert/Brazil’s Presidential Office)
Short Url
Updated 16 February 2024
Follow

Brazilian, Egyptian presidents call for immediate ceasefire in Gaza

  • Lula da Silva met with Abdel Fattah El-Sisi while on official state visit to Cairo
  • Brazil ‘opposed to attempts at the forced displacement of the Palestinian people’

SAO PAULO: Brazil’s President Lula da Silva and his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah El-Sisi on Thursday called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and discussed the importance of resuming a peace process in the Middle East.

Lula was on an official state visit to Cairo, celebrating 100 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries. It was his second visit to Egypt, the first having been in 2003.

“At a time when we should be talking about increasing food production for the world, about economic growth, about income distribution, we are talking about war. War does not benefit anyone. It brings death, destruction, and suffering,” said Lula, calling again for reform of global governance institutions.

“It is regrettable that the multilateral institutions created to resolve these situations do not work.”

El-Sisi said: “We agree that an immediate and sustained ceasefire is very important, as is the need to get humanitarian aid to the people in Gaza.

“We are thinking especially of the post-war phase, which requires the establishment of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, and I thank the Brazilian president for recognizing the Palestinian state.”

Lula stressed the need to modify the structure of the UN Security Council, which has been unable to prevent conflicts such as those in Ukraine and Gaza, and in which veto powers have been used.

He said many of the most recent wars have been started by nations that are council members.

“It is urgent to establish a definitive ceasefire that allows for the provision of sustainable and unimpeded humanitarian aid, and the immediate and unconditional release of hostages,” Lula said, adding that Brazil is “opposed to attempts at the forced displacement of the Palestinian people.

“For these reasons, among others, Brazil has expressed its support for the proceedings instituted in the International Court of Justice by South Africa ... There will be no peace without a Palestinian state, living side by side with Israel, within mutually agreed and internationally recognized borders.”

Lula thanked the Egyptian government for its help in enabling the return of 117 Brazilian Palestinians who had been stranded in Gaza since the start of the conflict.

During the meeting, El-Sisi confirmed that he would go to Brazil in November, both to participate as an invited leader of the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, and for an official visit to the country at Lula’s invitation.

It will be the first time an Egyptian president has visited Brazil in 11 years, since Mohamed Morsi’s visit in 2013. The intention is to expand bilateral trade.

Lula said the admission of Egypt as a member of the BRICS Bank represents a milestone in effective collaboration between emerging economies.

“Our coordination with other developing nations is essential for the success of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP30), which we will host in Brazil in 2025. And we will need a lot of help and experience from Egypt, which hosted COP27 in 2022,” he added.


US airstrikes targeting Yemen’s Houthi rebels kill at least 2 people, group says

People look at the site of a U.S. strike in Sanaa, Yemen March 24, 2025. (REUTERS)
Updated 6 sec ago
Follow

US airstrikes targeting Yemen’s Houthi rebels kill at least 2 people, group says

  • The Houthis had targeted over 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two vessels and killing four sailors during their campaign targeting ships from November 2023 until January of this year

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates: US airstrikes targeting Yemen’s Houthi rebels pounded sites across the country into early Tuesday, with the group saying one attack in the capital killed at least two people and wounded more than a dozen others.
The American strikes on the rebels, who threaten maritime trade and Israel, entered their 10th day without any sign of stopping. They are part of a campaign by US President Donald Trump targeting the rebel group while also trying to pressure Iran, the Houthis’ main benefactor.
So far, the US has not offered any specifics on the sites it is striking, though Trump’s national security adviser Mike Waltz claimed the attacks have “taken out key Houthi leadership, including their head missileer.” That’s something so far that’s not been acknowledged by the Houthis, though the rebels have downplayed their losses in the past and exaggerated their attacks attempting to target American warships.
“We’ve hit their headquarters,” Waltz told CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday. “We’ve hit communications nodes, weapons factories and even some of their over-the-water drone production facilities.”
An apparent US strike Sunday hit a building in a western neighborhood of Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, killing at least two people and wounding 13 others, the rebel-controlled SABA news agency said, citing health officials. Footage released by the rebels showed the rubble of a collapsed building and pools of blood staining the gray dust covering the ground.
A building next to the collapsed structure still stood, suggesting American forces likely used a lower-yield warhead in the strike.
The Houthis also described American airstrikes targeting sites around the city of Saada, a Houthi stronghold, the Red Sea port city of Hodeida and Marib province, home to oil and gas fields still under the control of allies to Yemen’s exiled central government. Those strikes continued into early Tuesday as the Houthis separately launched a missile attack on Israel.
The campaign of airstrikes targeting the rebels, which killed at least 53 people immediately after they began March 15, started after the Houthis threatened to begin targeting “Israeli” ships again over Israel blocking aid entering the Gaza Strip. The rebels in the past have had a loose definition of what constitutes an Israeli ship, meaning other vessels could be targeted as well.
The Houthis had targeted over 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two vessels and killing four sailors during their campaign targeting ships from November 2023 until January of this year. They also launched attacks targeting American warships, though none have been hit so far.
The attacks greatly raised the Houthis’ profile as they faced economic problems and launched a crackdown targeting any dissent and aid workers at home amid Yemen’s decadelong stalemated war that has torn apart the Arab world’s poorest nation.

 


Israeli military intercepts missile launched from Yemen

Updated 25 March 2025
Follow

Israeli military intercepts missile launched from Yemen

  • Houthis spokesman Yahya Saree said the group also targeted “the US aircraft carrier Truman, using ballistic and cruise missiles and drones”

SANAA: The Israeli military said it had intercepted a missile over Israel on Monday that had been launched from Yemen, according to a statement.
The Houthis, undeterred by waves of US strikes since March 15, fired two ballistic missiles toward Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, the group’s military spokesman said in a televised statement early on Tuesday.
US President Donald Trump also threatened to punish Iran over its perceived support for Yemeni Houthi militants.
Earlier, warning sirens sounded in several areas of Israel, including Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
The Houthis have vowed to escalate attacks, including those targeting Israel, in response to the US campaign.
Houthis spokesman Yahya Saree said the group also targeted “the US aircraft carrier Truman, using ballistic and cruise missiles and drones.”
The Houthis have carried out over 100 attacks on shipping since
Israel’s war with Hamas
began in late 2023, saying they were acting in solidarity with Gaza’s Palestinians.
The attacks have disrupted global commerce and prompted the US military to launch a costly campaign to intercept missiles.
The Houthis are part of what has been dubbed the “Axis of Resistance” — an anti-Israel and anti-Western alliance of regional militias including Hamas, Lebanon’s Hezbollah and armed groups in Iraq, all backed by Iran.

 


One killed in southern Lebanon by Israeli strike: state media

Updated 25 March 2025
Follow

One killed in southern Lebanon by Israeli strike: state media

BEIRUT, Lebanon: One person was killed in an Israeli strike in southern Lebanon late Monday, after a wave of intensive air attacks in the region over the weekend, state media reported.
“A raid by an enemy Israeli drone on a vehicle in the area of Qaqaiyat Al-Jisr left one dead,” the National News Agency (ANI) said, attributing the toll to the Lebanese health ministry.
Israel launched air strikes on southern Lebanon on Saturday, killing eight people, in response to rocket fire that hit its territory for the first time since a ceasefire took effect on November 27.
No party has claimed responsibility for the rocket fire, which a military source said was launched from an area north of the Litani River, between the villages of Kfar Tebnit and Arnoun, near the zone covered by the ceasefire agreement.
The agreement stipulates that only the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers may be deployed south of the Litani River, with Hezbollah required to dismantle its infrastructure and withdraw north of the river.
But the war has severely weakened Hezbollah, which remains a target of Israeli air strikes despite the ceasefire.
Over the weekend Lebanese officials held discussions with Washington and Paris to prevent Israel from bombing Beirut, a source told AFP on Monday on condition of anonymity.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Saturday that following rocket fire on Metula, a town in northern Israel, “Metula’s fate is the same as Beirut’s.”


Palestinian children denied access to quality education by Israeli violence and repression

Updated 25 March 2025
Follow

Palestinian children denied access to quality education by Israeli violence and repression

BEIRUT: A lost generation of Palestinian children is being denied an education by Israeli violence and repression, experts said on Monday.

In the occupied West Bank and annexed East Jerusalem, constant fighting has paralyzed movement and more than 800,000 young people had their access to school restricted in 2024, according to a new report by the Occupied Palestinian Territory Education Cluster, which includes UN agencies.

In Gaza, where almost every school has been reduced to rubble by Israeli bombing, children had just begun to return to classes in bombed-out buildings when Israeli airstrikes resumed on March 18. Nearly half of the 400 people killed that day were children.

“The ability of Palestinian children to access quality education in the West Bank or in Gaza has never been under more stress,” said Alexandra Saieh, global head of humanitarian policy and advocacy at the charity Save the Children.

The Palestinian Ministry of Education recorded more than 2,200 incidents of violence targeting the education system in the West Bank in 2024, according to the new report. These included attacks on schools by armed settlers and the detention of students or teachers by Israeli security forces.

At least 109 schools were attacked or vandalized. More than half of Palestinian students reported being delayed or harassed on their way to school, and many were physically assaulted. Every day, children in the West Bank run the gauntlet of Israeli roadblocks, checkpoints and settler attacks on their way to school.

"Checkpoints are also increasing risks of violence for students, their caregivers and teachers from Israeli forces or from settlers who, in some areas, have taken advantage of the fact that cars are not able to move to damage them and attack passengers,” the report said.

Since January, thousands of Israeli troops have swept through refugee camps and cities and demolished houses and infrastructure, including roads children use to get to school.


Putin thanks UAE’s president for facilitating exchange of thousands of Russian, Ukrainian prisoners of war

Updated 25 March 2025
Follow

Putin thanks UAE’s president for facilitating exchange of thousands of Russian, Ukrainian prisoners of war

  • Vladimir Putin, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan held phone call on Monday
  • Sheikh Mohamed stresses UAE’s support for initiatives to resolve crisis in Ukraine

LONDON: Russian President Vladimir Putin praised the UAE’s mediation efforts — which have facilitated the exchange of thousands of war prisoners from Russia and Ukraine — during a phone call with the UAE’s President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan.

The UAE’s mediation has resulted in the release of 3,233 prisoners of war from Russia and Ukraine since 2024. Last week’s exchange saw the release of 175 prisoners from each side.

Putin and Sheikh Mohamed on Monday discussed ways to strengthen bilateral cooperation and reaffirmed their strategic partnership to benefit their countries, the Emirates News Agency reported.

Putin expressed his appreciation to Sheikh Mohamed for the successful mediation efforts made by the UAE, the WAM added.

Sheikh Mohamed thanked the Russian government for its cooperation in successfully facilitating the war captives exchange initiative. He emphasized the UAE’s commitment to humanitarian efforts and support for initiatives to resolve the crisis in Ukraine and mitigate its impact.

The two leaders addressed various regional and international issues, with the UAE’s president reiterating his nation’s commitment to fostering peace globally, as well as advocating for initiatives to resolve conflicts.