“This is not a war of soldiers against soldiers. It is a war between a highly prepared army and women and children,” he said.
The remarks are among the most virulent comments ever made on the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas. Lula also criticized recent decisions by major Western donors to suspend their funding of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA. Brazil will increase its own contribution to the agency, said Lula, who met Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh.