From left: President of Brazil Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, President of China Xi Jinping, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi and Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during the 2023 BRICS Summit at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa, on August 23, 2023. (Photo by Gianluigi Guercia / POOL / AFP)
Johannesburg: The BRICS group of nations today, November 21, called for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza to stop a humanitarian catastrophe caused by the unprecedented Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip that began October 7.
The BRICS leaders mentioned in the final statement of the virtual summit that was called for by South Africa to discuss the situation in Gaza, that reaching a permanent and fair solution to the crisis in the occupied territories through peaceful means had become an urgent necessity that needs no delay.
The leaders demanded that the international community supports direct negotiations based on the international law, including the UN Security Council's resolutions, the General Assembly and the Arab Peace Initiative in order to realize the two states solution.
They highlighted the importance of preventing destabilization and further violence escalation, expressing their condemnation to any type of forced relocation, individual or mass displacement of the Palestinians from their land, whether inside Gaza or to the neighboring countries.
It is worth noting that during the last BRICS summit held in August, a decision was announced inviting six states to become full members in the organization starting early 2024.
The BRICS is an economic block that includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
