Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva opened the 17th BRICS leaders’ summit in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday by urging the bloc’s 11 emerging economies to act against what he termed the “genocide carried out by Israel in Gaza.” While acknowledging that “nothing justifies the terrorist actions by Hamas,” Lula condemned the “indiscriminate killing of civilians and the use of hunger as a weapon of war” by Israeli forces. His remarks came as cease-fire talks between Israel and Hamas resumed in Doha after 21 months of fighting that, according to Al Jazeera, has killed more than 57,000 people in the Palestinian enclave. Lula also criticised NATO’s agreement last month to raise members’ defence spending to the equivalent of 5 % of GDP, saying the decision “fuels the arms race” and shows that “resources for peace exist but lack political priority.” He contrasted the new target with the long-unmet pledge by wealthy nations to devote 0.7 % of output to development aid and warned that “it is always easier to invest in war than in peace.” Arguing that global institutions are failing to prevent conflict, the Brazilian leader renewed a long-standing demand to overhaul the United Nations Security Council. Delaying reform, he said, makes the world “more unstable and dangerous,” and he called for permanent seats for countries from Asia, Africa and Latin America to make the body more “legitimate, representative, effective and democratic.” The two-day gathering at Rio’s Museum of Modern Art is the first full summit since BRICS expanded in 2024 to admit Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang is attending in place of President Xi Jinping, and Russian President Vladimir Putin is participating online owing to an International Criminal Court warrant. Leaders are expected to focus on conflict mediation, development finance and ways to strengthen multilateral governance amid what Lula called an unprecedented number of wars since 1945.