Brazil slams Israel’s war on Gaza as ‘genocide’

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva slammed Israel’s war on the besieged Gaza Strip as a “genocide”.

In a meeting held at the Planalto presidential palace in the capital, Brasilia, da Silva said: “What is happening is not a war. It is a genocide that led to the killing of nearly 2,000 children who had nothing to do with this war. They are the victims of this war.”

“Frankly, I do not know how a person can go to war knowing that the result of that war is the death of innocent children,” he added.

The Brazilian president warned that the developments in the Middle East are “dangerous”, adding that the issue is not a matter of discussing “who is right and who is wrong, who fired the first bullet and who fired the second.”

“Brazil supports the release of the hostages and the establishment of a humanitarian corridor to allow aid to be sent to Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip,” he added.

Da Silva has spoke with Palestinian Authority President, Mahmoud Abbas, and the Emir of Qatar, Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, UAE President Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan and others in an effort to reach a solution that restores peace.

On Wednesday, Brazil abstained from voting on the American draft resolution in the Security Council, which did not call for an end to the Israeli military operations in Gaza.

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