Israel-Hamas war: 'Frank' US talks after Lula invoked Hitler

Britain's House of Commons descended into chaos over a motion calling for a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip.

The chamber was due to debate and vote on a motion for an "immediate cease-fire" in Gaza put forth by the Scottish National Party (SNP).

Instead, in an unusual move, speaker Lindsay Hoyle allowed a vote on a motion for an "immediate humanitarian cease-fire" in Gaza by the main opposition Labour Party.

Hoyle's decision meant Labour lawmakers could vote for their party's own plan and avoid having to defy their leadership by supporting the SNP motion.

Lawmakers from the governing Conservatives and the opposition SNP left the debating chamber in protest.

The motion was not officially voted on after the government said it would not participate in protest.

Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira criticized the "paralysis" within the UN Security Council at the opening of a G20 foreign ministers' meeting in Rio de Janeiro.

"Multilateral institutions are not properly equipped to deal with the current challenges, as has been demonstrated by the Security Council's unacceptable paralysis on the ongoing conflicts" in Gaza and Ukraine," Vieira said. The deadlock was costing "innocent lives," he added.

Both the conflicts between Russia and Ukraine, and then Israel and Gaza, have put renewed focus on a longstanding issue at the UN Security Council: the difficulty of passing any resolution that's liable to meet resistance from one of the council's permanent members. All of these — Russia, the US, Britain, France and China — can veto any decision, even if a majority voted for it. 

The ministers and other representatives of the 20 leading rich and developing nations are gathered for the G20's first high-level meeting since Brazil took on the annual presidency of the bloc.

The UK and Jordan have dropped aid to the Tal Al-Hawa hospital in northern Gaza, the UK government said.

The consignment, funded by the UK, and transferred by the Jordanian Air Force, consists of 4 metric tons of vital supplies including medicines, fuel and food. The hospital, located in Gaza City, has treated thousands of patients since the start of the war.

UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron said they had worked to make sure the lifesaving supplies were transferred. "[The] situation in Gaza is desperate and significantly more aid is needed — and fast," Cameron said.

The news comes after the World Food Program said on Tuesday that it had paused deliveries of food to northern Gaza because of intensifying fighting and violence there.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva and told him that he "disagrees" with recent remarks made by the Brazilian leader about the conflict in Gaza. 

A State Department official told reporters the pair had a "frank exchange" during a long meeting at the presidential palace in Brasilia.

Over the weekend, Lula prompted outrage in Israel, by accusing it of "genocide" in Gaza and also claiming that its military campaign after Hamas' October 7 attack was akin to Adolf Hitler's mass extermination of an estimated 6 million Jews during World War II.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu quickly said he had crossed a "red line," and Israel declared the Brazilian leader was not welcome there. 

The Brazilian president's office, meanwhile, offered a different summary of Lula's talks with the top US diplomat ahead of a G20 foreign ministers' meeting.

"President Lula reaffirmed his wish for peace and an end to the conflicts in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip," the Brazilian government said. "Both agreed on the need for the creation of a Palestinian state."

Lula has also faced criticism from the US and Ukraine for his recent comments on that conflict. 

G20 foreign ministers are meeting in Rio de Janeiro, where they are expected to discuss Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza and the threat of a conflagration in the Middle East.

Brazilian President Luiz Ignacio Lula da Silva has criticized the United Nations for failing to resolve the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

Lula has said there is consensus on the need to reform the UN, with Brazil calling for the Security Council to be expanded.

His accusations last week of atrocities by Israeli forces in Gaza, which he called genocide, caused a diplomatic crisis with a reprimand from Israel and Brazil recalling its ambassador.

The gathering comes after the US was criticized for vetoing an Algerian resolution that called for an immediate humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza and the release of all hostages.

Other topics, including Russia's war in Ukraine, will also be on the agenda.

Medical aid group Doctors Without Borders (MSF) says two people were killed when a shelter housing staff in the Gaza Strip was hit in an Israeli operation. 

The strike took place in an area where Palestinians have been told to seek shelter, the group said.

"While details are still emerging, ambulance crews have now reached the site, where at least two family members of our colleagues have been killed and six people wounded. We are horrified by what has taken place," MSF said in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

The strike occurred in Muwasi, a sandy and largely undeveloped strip of coastal land transformed into a sprawling tent camp.

The war began when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel on October 7, killing some 1,200 people and taking about 240 hostages. Nearly half the hostages were released during a six-day truce in November.

Gaza's Hamas-run Health Ministry estimates more than 29,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's response.

Hamas is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, and Israel.

China has warned that the US veto of a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire in the Gaza Strip has made the situation in the Palestinian territory "even more dangerous."

Washington voted against the resolution that Algeria drafted, which demanded an immediate humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza and the "unconditional" release of all hostages kidnapped in the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel.

Washington's ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, called the vote "wishful and irresponsible," claiming it could put negotiations to free hostages in Gaza "in jeopardy."

Countries including China, Russia and Saudi Arabia criticized the US veto, and close US allies France and Slovenia expressed regret.

"The United States has once again single-handedly vetoed [the resolution], pushing the situation in Gaza into an even more dangerous situation, in which all parties concerned ... have expressed their strong disappointment and dissatisfaction," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told a press briefing.

"The humanitarian situation in Gaza is becoming extremely serious, and regional peace and stability have been severely impacted," Mao said.

"The Security Council must take action as quickly as possible to bring a halt to hostilities. This is a moral obligation that cannot be put off," she said.

Mao added that China would continue to "make unremitting efforts to quell the war in Gaza at an early date."

The state-run Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) says two people died after the Israeli military struck a building in Damascus, Syria's capital. 

SANA says Israel fired several rockets targeting a residential building in the Kafr Sousa area of Damascus.

Germany's DPA news agency cited residents saying there had been explosions and that fire was seen in apartments in a building next to a school. Blast fragments damaged other buildings and cars in the area.

Kafr Sousa is understood to be usually frequented by Iran-allied militia members. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights put the death toll at three: one civilian and two people who were not Syrian. 

The district was hit by a suspected Israeli airstrike a year ago, leaving some 15 people dead.

Israel has previously bombed targets in Syria, intending to prevent Iran and its allied militias from expanding their military influence there.

The strikes have increased since Israel's war with Hamas began on October 7.
 

rc/nm (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)