Brazil’s Lula warns of lasting impact of Gaza war and criticises UN inaction

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Tuesday that “generations of Palestinians will carry the pain and trauma left by the war in the Gaza Strip”, accusing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government of committing “genocide” against women and children in the territory.

Lula made the remarks in a speech to the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, where he criticised what he described as the UN’s inability to prevent wars and its declining ability to protect the most vulnerable, amid deadlock at the UN Security Council.

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Lula also criticised pressure and legal action targeting the International Criminal Court (ICC) and its members, saying that targeting the court could encourage impunity for those responsible for crimes. He also defended Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories, saying she “should not be silenced because of her positions and statements”.

The Brazilian president warned against the continued expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, saying that “settlements are making the possibility of implementing a two-state solution increasingly remote”. He stressed that “a political solution based on two states is necessary to enable Israelis and Palestinians to live in security”.

Lula added that “threatening to remove or annihilate peoples and civilisations will not bring stability to the Middle East”, before turning to the widening conflicts in the region and their economic and humanitarian consequences for countries around the world.

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