What Happened During the BRICS “Extraordinary Joint Meeting” Regarding Israel’s Gaza War

At the virtual BRICS summit on Tuesday morning, leaders of the Global South’s developing economies called for a “humanitarian truce” in response to Israel’s continuing bombardment on Gaza.

Speaking during the opening ceremony, South African President Ramaphosa, the leader of the BRICS group, referred to Israel’s conduct as a “clear violation of international law” and called the collective punishment of the Palestinian people a “war crime tantamount to genocide”.

In addition to the BRICS members—Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa—other attendees at the summit included Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Ethiopia, Argentina, and Iran, which will formally join the organization in 2024. Antonio Guterres, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, was also present.

Some of the nations took a firm stand on the conflict, while others chose to use their well-rounded perspectives in diplomacy. The BRICS summit is atypical in that it deviates from the group’s customary agenda of discussing global governance, development, and economic cooperation. This suggests that the global south is becoming more aggressive.

Describe BRICS.
The world’s fastest-developing countries, Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, are together referred to as BRICS. In 2009, the BRIC group was founded with only four members, and in 2010, South Africa received an invitation to join.

Economist Jim O’Neill of Goldman Sachs first proposed the idea in a 2001 paper titled “Building Better Global Economic BRICs.” The study emphasized that the BRICS nations, with their large populations and rising economic production, had the potential to significantly influence the direction of the world economy.

The organization was founded with the intention of strengthening economic cooperation and cultivating goodwill among the developing nations.

Since 2009, the association has arranged yearly meetings, with member nations rotating as hosts.

The increasing power of BRICS
It was determined during the summit that South Africa held earlier this year that six more members will be asked to join the group on January 1, 2024. Among the nations were Iran, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, Egypt, and Argentina.

Only six of the more than 40 nations that expressed interest in joining the BRIC bloc received invitations to the gathering. The selecting procedure was not extensively described by the founding members.

During the meeting, the group said, “We appreciate the considerable interest shown by countries of the Global South in membership of BRICS.” Referring to the selected nations, they said, “BRICS countries reached consensus on the guiding principles, standards, criteria, and procedures of the BRICS expansion process.”

President Ramaphosa said, “We have reached consensus regarding the first leg of this long journey, and we are all looking forward to the next phases that will come.”

Global economists have predicted that the emerging BRICS alliance would soon challenge the G7 of the West.

What took place at the virtual summit
The specific positions of the nations on the conflict differed, notwithstanding the united statement issued during the meeting yesterday calling for the “release of all civilians who are being illegally held captive”.

China called for an end to hostilities and emphasized that the international community must stop the situation from becoming worse. Additionally, President Xi cited China’s recent veto of a resolution passed by the UN Security Council that upheld Israel’s right to self-defense.

In place of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar represented India. He mentioned the critical need for humanitarian assistance, but he refrained from criticizing Israel’s conduct. “There is a great deal of human suffering resulting from the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza,” he said, highlighting the need of international de-escalation measures. According to a readout from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Jaishankar stated, “Right now, there is an urgent need to ensure that humanitarian aid and relief effectively and safely reach the population of Gaza…Along with the need for restraint and immediate humanitarian support, India also emphasizes peaceful resolution of conflicts through dialogue and diplomacy,””

India has already sent two shipments of humanitarian assistance to Palestine.

at spite of this, India had also refrained from voting at the UNGA last month on a resolution advocating for an instant “humanitarian truce” in the Gaza Strip in the continuing conflict. Its stance on the conflict is still unknown as a result.

Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the president of Brazil, avoided using the word “genocide,” instead referring to the fighting as a “humanitarian catastrophe.” He called the strikes carried out by Hamas “barbaric,” but he also underlined that they do not justify the use of “indiscriminate and disproportionate force against civilians.” Lula recognized the terrible toll that war takes, especially on defenseless populations like women, children, and the elderly.

President Ramaphosa of South Africa criticized Israel harshly. Israel was taken before the International Criminal Court by South Africa last week. Israeli ambassador to South Africa was recalled in retaliation, and the South African parliament decided this week to shutter the Israeli embassy.

Russia’s President Vladimir V. Putin supported a cease-fire as well.

The most recent update is that 50 prisoners detained in the enclave will be released and a four-day ceasefire in Gaza would be observed by Israel and Hamas. 150 Palestinian women and children detained in Israeli prisons would be released as part of the arrangement. Aid may now reach Gaza’s civilian population because to the ceasefire.