BRICS leaders expressed concern over escalation in Gaza

The leaders of the BRICS member states expressed concern about the escalating violence in Gaza and the dire humanitarian situation in the region.

“We recalled our national positions regarding the situation in Gaza, expressed in the UN Security Council and the UN General Assembly. Concern was expressed regarding the latest escalation of violence since the attack on October 7, 2023 and the serious deterioration of the situation in the region,” – said in the communiqué following the online summit.

As specified in the statement, concern is caused both by the difficult humanitarian situation directly in Gaza and in the rest of the territory. “occupied Palestine”.

Earlier during the summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed gratitude to the head of Egypt, Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, for his assistance in the return of Russians from the Gaza Strip.

The Russian president also pointed out the inability of the United States to single-handedly “cut the Palestinian knot.” According to Putin, all these events, in fact, are a direct consequence of the US desire to monopolize mediation functions in the Palestinian-Israeli settlement.

On October 7, a massive missile strike was launched against Israel. The Islamist movement Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, claimed responsibility for the attack. Hamas announced its Operation Al-Aqsa Flood. In response, Israel launched the counter-terrorism Operation Iron Swords.

On October 17, it became known about an attack on a hospital in Gaza. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas declared three days of mourning. The strike killed more than 470 people, according to Palestinian authorities. The culprit of the shelling has not been identified; the parties to the conflict are shifting responsibility onto each other.

On October 18, US President Joe Biden arrived in Israel. However, instead of trying to end the conflict, he unconditionally supported the actions of the Netanyahu government and the IDF. Palestinian Legislative Council member Mustafa Barghouti called Biden’s visit to Tel Aviv a disastrous mistake, pushing the IDF towards a ground invasion.

On October 23, Hamas released two elderly hostages – Israelis Nurit Yitzhak-Cooper and Yocheved Lifshitz. Previously, the organization released several US citizens. At the same time, employees of the International Committee of the Red Cross announced that they had agreed to the release of about 50 hostages with dual citizenship.

On the night of October 28, Israel subjected the Gaza Strip to its heaviest shelling in three weeks. The missiles were fired at more than 150 targets. Before this, the IDF said that the underground Hamas base was located under Gaza’s largest hospital. According to Al Jazeera TV channel, the strikes were carried out near two hospitals.

On the night of October 29, Israel announced the start of a full-scale ground operation in the Gaza Strip. After this, according to the correspondent “Izvestia”, direct clashes between the IDF and Hamas took place in the enclave. At the same time, Israeli troops shelled the territory of Syria and Lebanon. In addition, the bombing of the Gaza Strip intensified. Iran accused Israel of crossing red lines. The UN Security Council has scheduled a meeting in connection with the Israeli ground operation for October 30.

On October 29, the IDF said that the number of hostages had increased to 239. On the night of October 30, the Israel Defense Forces attacked military infrastructure in Syria in response to shelling. Israel later reported that in just a few days the military had hit more than 600 Hamas targets.

On October 31, the Yemeni rebel movement Ansar Allah joined the conflict on the side of Hamas, which bombarded Israel with cruise missiles and drones. On November 6, Israel shot down a ballistic missile launched from Yemen in space, in what was billed as the first-ever engagement outside the Earth’s atmosphere.

Also on November 6, the IDF announced the complete encirclement of Gaza, as well as the division of the Palestinian enclave into two parts.

On November 7, the IDF announced that they were fighting in the center of Gaza. In addition, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, the Israeli army shelled seven hospitals in Gaza and its suburbs. At the same time, the United States refused to condemn IDF strikes on medical facilities.

On November 11, the Israeli army approached Al-Shifa Hospital. After this, it was reported that the IDF began shelling the medical center, including striking the maternity ward. On November 18, WHO Director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that al-Shifa can no longer function. WHO later reported that more than 300 people remained in al-Shifa in the Gaza Strip, including 32 infants in critical condition and 22 people on dialysis.

Foreign citizens began to be evacuated from the Gaza Strip to Egypt through the Rafah checkpoint on November 1. As of November 19, the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry managed to evacuate more than 550 Russians from the Gaza Strip.