(Updates with meeting confirmation, adds details and quotes; changes wording)
The United Nations Security Council will meet on Sunday after the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas launched the biggest attack on Israel in years, diplomats said.
The decision came after Brazil’s Foreign Ministry said the country will call an emergency meeting of the council. The South American nation presides over the body during October.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the Hamas attack and urged “all diplomatic efforts to prevent a larger conflagration,” U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.
“The Secretary-General is deeply concerned about the civilian population and urges maximum restraint. Civilians must be respected and protected at all times, in accordance with international humanitarian law,” Dujarric declared.
For its part, the Brazilian Government said that it “condemns the series of bombings and ground attacks carried out today in Israel from the Gaza Strip (…) It expresses its condolences to the families of the victims and its solidarity with the people of Israel”.
Brazil said it regrets that in 2023, on the 30th anniversary of the Oslo Peace Accords, there will be a “serious and growing deterioration in the security situation between Israel and Palestine.”
The ministry also added that the “Brazilian government urges all parties to exercise maximum restraint to prevent the situation from escalating.” (Reporting by Michelle Nichols and Alberto Alerigi Jr. Edited in Spanish by Javier Leira)
Source: Ambito
