The President of the Republic, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), met with the President of Egypt, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, this Sunday (17), at .
At the meeting, the two leaders talked about the situation in the Palestinian territory of the Gaza Strip and signed a “strategic partnership document” – without further details –, according to a statement from the Presidency of the Republic.
Israel has been carrying out attacks against Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, for days, saying it is targeting installations and figures of , financed by Iran and an ally of the Palestinian Hamas.
The actions take place in parallel with the continuation of attacks in Gaza, where Israeli soldiers are fighting Hamas while continuing to search for hostages kidnapped by the group more than a year ago, since October 7, 2023.
Since then, more than 40,000 Palestinians have died. Last week, a new report from Human Rights Watch, a global organization defending human rights, .
Meeting
On the Brazilian side, ministers Mauro Vieira (Foreign Affairs), Carlos Fávaro (Agriculture), Alexandre Silveira, and Margareth Menezes (Culture), in addition to special advisor Celso Amorim, also participated in the meeting.
At the meeting, Lula and Al-Sisi spoke about possibilities of “cooperation in the industrial, defense and also cultural areas, with the exchange of historical pieces for Brazilian museums”, according to Palácio do Planalto.
Lula invited the foreign leader to visit Brazil in 2025 along with a delegation of businesspeople.
Al-Sisi came to Rio to participate in the , to be held this Monday (18) and Tuesday (19).
Egypt was one of the . The Egyptians were also at the 2023 summit in India.
At the summit, Egypt’s president must address the Palestinian issue in speeches and meetings with other leaders.
The country expresses concern about Israel’s actions in the Palestinian territories – Gaza Strip and West Bank – and in Lebanon, and wants to position itself as a mediator for conflicts in the Middle East.
Meetings
This was the ninth of the bilateral meetings between Lula and heads of state that were scheduled for this Sunday. Before, Lula met with:
