Brazil president withdraws his country's ambassador to Israel after criticising the war in Gaza
Rio De Janeiro, May 29: Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva withdrew his ambassador to Israel on Wednesday after months of tensions between the two countries over the war in Gaza.
The move was announced in Brazil's official gazette. There was no immediate response from Israel.
Lula has been a frequent critic of Israel's offensive in Gaza, which he compared to the Holocaust earlier this year. That led Israel's Foreign Minister Israel Katz to summon the Brazilian ambassador to the national Holocaust museum in Jerusalem for a public reprimand.
At the time, Lula called Brazil's Ambassador Frederico Meyer home. Wednesday's action represented an escalation — a diplomatic downgrade, with the Brazilian Embassy in Israel still there but without an ambassador in the post.
According to a person at Brazil's foreign ministry, the official removal comes was in response to Meyer's humiliation by Israel's top diplomat. The person, who has knowledge of the situation, spoke on condition of anonymity as he wasn't authorised to speak publicly.
Meyer has been transferred to Geneva and will join Brazil's permanent mission to the United Nations and other international organizations.
The latest war in Gaza, now in its eighth month, began when the Palestinian Hamas group burst into southern Israel in a surprise attack on October 7, killing some 1,200 civilians and taking around 250 hostage.
Israel's offensive in response to that attack has killed at least 36,096 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between fighters and civilians in its count. Israel says it has killed 13,000 Hamas group members.
In February, Brazil's Lula said that “what is happening in the Gaza Strip and to the Palestinian people hasn't been seen in any other moment in history. Actually, it did when Hitler decided to kill the Jews.”
Israel says its war in Gaza is a defensive action triggered by Hamas' unprecedented assault and rejects any comparisons of its offensive to the Holocaust.
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Himanta resigns as Assam CM, paving way for formation of new govt
Guwahati (PTI): Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday resigned along with his cabinet colleagues, paving the way for formation of a new government led by the BJP, officials said.
The BJP-led NDA bagged 102 seats in the 126-member assembly. The assembly elections were held in a single phase on April 9, and counting of votes took place on May 4.
"Following the formal notification of the results of #AssamElections2026 and to enable the formation of the new government, Dr @himantabiswa tendered his resignation as Chief Minister along with that of the council of Ministers to Hon'ble Governor Shri @Laxmanacharya54 today at Lok Bhawan," the Chief Minister's Office said in a post on X.
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The Governor has accepted the resignation, and requested Sarma to continue as the caretaker CM till the new government assumes office, it said.
Later, speaking to reporters outside the Lok Bhawan, Sarma said the oath-taking ceremony is likely to take place after May 11.
“As it was a historic win, we have invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to grace the occasion," he said.
The new Assam chief minister will be selected at a meeting of the BJP legislature party in presence of central observers, Sarma said.
