Gaza: Agencies
The Brazilian government announced that the Mercosur free trade agreement with the Palestinian Authority had entered into force, about 13 years after its signing.
According to the Al Hurra website, the Mercosur group includes Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Venezuela, while the countries of Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana and Suriname have the status of associated countries.
The bloc, which was founded in 1991, represents about 62 percent of the population of South America, and 67 percent of the continent’s gross domestic product.
The Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement, “The agreement represents a tangible contribution to the establishment of an economically viable Palestinian state that can live in peace and harmony with its neighbors.”
It is not clear whether other Mercosur members will follow Brazil's example, but according to the Times of Israel, Argentina's right-wing government, headed by Javier Miley, is not expected to do so.
The Brazilian government said that the killing of more than 100 people seeking humanitarian aid in Gaza shows that the Israeli military campaign in Gaza has no “moral or legal limits,” renewing its call for an immediate ceasefire.
For his part, the Palestinian Ambassador to Brasilia, Ibrahim Al-Zaben, described Brazil's decision as "courageous, supportive, and timely."
He said it is "an effective way to support peace in Palestine," adding that he hopes that Palestinian trade with Mercosur, which currently amounts to only $32 million annually, will grow.
Brazil recalled its ambassador to Israel in late May, without intending to appoint a replacement for him at the present time.
On February 18, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva accused Israel of committing "genocide" during the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip, sparking a diplomatic crisis with Israel.
Lula said at the time: “What is happening in the Gaza Strip is not a war, it is genocide,” adding: “It is not a war of soldiers against soldiers. It is a war between a highly prepared army, and women and children.”
He continued: "What is happening in the Gaza Strip with the Palestinian people has not happened at any other stage in history. In fact, it had already happened when (Nazi leader Adolf) Hitler decided to kill the Jews."
These statements sparked harsh criticism from officials in Tel Aviv, where Foreign Minister Israel Katz confirmed that Lula had become an undesirable person in Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the Brazilian president had "crossed the red line."
This comes as the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip for the 277th day in a row, with raids and artillery shelling targeting several areas in the Strip, resulted in dozens of martyrs and wounded.
Medical sources reported that 7 people were killed as a result of the occupation bombing of a house in the new camp in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip.
Six others were martyred as a result of the occupation aircraft targeting a house belonging to the Muhanna family north of Gaza City, while medical teams were able to recover a baby alive.
3 people were killed and 3 others were injured as a result of the occupation bombing of the Lababidi area, north of Gaza City.
Artillery shelling targeted areas west of Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip, while the vicinity of Al-Shifa Medical Complex, west of Gaza City, and a school in Nuseirat were subjected to violent raids.
Ambulance crews recovered a child and a number of wounded people from a bombed house on Al-Nafaq Street in Gaza City.
Health sources at the Baptist Hospital reported that the occupation army forced medical teams to close the hospital, after its surroundings came under heavy fire from marches.
The sources said that the displaced people in the hospital and all the patients were forced to leave, exposing them to serious danger.
The western areas of the Tal al-Hawa neighborhood, southwest of Gaza City, were subjected to artillery shelling and gunfire by Apache helicopters.
The Israeli occupation forces have continued their aggression against the Gaza Strip, by land, sea and air, since October 7, 2023, resulting in the death of more than 38,193 people, the majority of whom are women and children, and the injury of more than 87,903 others, in an infinite toll, as there is no Thousands of victims remain under the rubble.