The Planalto Palace reported that President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will not be able to attend the meeting, which will take place on Saturday in Cairo. A representative of his, unknown to date, will go in his stead.

The main focus of the meeting is the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, which remains sieged and suffering continuous bombing by the Israeli army since a new conflict with the military wing of Hamas broke out on October 7th.

According to the Brazilian Agency, Egypt invited the Southern American country, which presides over the United Nations Security Council, after the attempt to approve a resolution on the conflict.

Brazilian diplomacy obtained broad support for a consensus project, but the United States, a permanent member of the council, with the right to veto, hindered the approval of the resolution.

Lula spoke by phone last Saturday with the president of Egypt, Abdel Fattah al-Sissi, requesting support for the evacuation of Brazilians trying to leave the Gaza Strip.

A group of 14 children, as well as eight women and six men, await the opening of the Egyptian border so as to return to Brazil. At least 16 of them remain housed in Rafah, in southern Gaza, near the border with Egypt.

According to the statement, during the telephone conversation, the leaders also agreed on the urgency of allowing humanitarian aid to enter Gaza, and reaffirmed the defense of the two-state solution between Palestine and Israel, and agreed to maintain frequent consultations on the ongoing crisis.

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