Gaza crisis: BRICS censure Israel for continuous settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories

NEW DELHI: Even as the NDA government refused to pass a resolution in Parliament on the ongoing crisis in Gaza, the BRICS nations, including India, have censured Israel for continuous settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and asserted that such actions violate the "viability of the two-state solution".

The five-member BRICS nations in the declaration following their sixth summit at Fortaleza in Brazil on Tuesday also focused on global political issues and hotspots across Africa and West Asia besides Afghanistan in great depth.

"We believe that the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a fundamental component for building a sustainable peace in the Middle East… We call upon Israel and Palestine to resume negotiations leading to a two-state solution with a contiguous and economically viable Palestinian state existing side by side in peace with Israel, within mutually agreed and internationally recognized borders based on the 4 June, 1967, lines, with East Jerusalem as its capital. We oppose the continuous construction and expansion of settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories by the Israeli Government, which violates international law, gravely undermines peace efforts and threatens the viability of the two-state solution," the five leaders including PM Modi said in the declaration.

They also welcomed recent efforts to achieve intra-Palestinian unity, including the formation of a national unity government. Iraq, where 39 Indians are still being held hostage by ISIS, was also the focus of the declaration.