Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Sunday accused Israel of committing a
“genocide”
of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, drawing a parallel with the extermination of the Jews carried out by the Hitler regime.
“What is happening in the Gaza Strip is not a war, it is a genocide
,” Mr. Lula told reporters from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where he is attending a Union summit. African.
“This is not a war of soldiers against soldiers. It is a war between a highly prepared army and women and children
,” added the Brazilian leader, a veteran of the left.
“What is happening in the Gaza Strip with the Palestinian people has not happened at any other time in history. In fact, this has already happened: when Hitler decided to kill the Jews
,” he insisted.
The remarks are among the most virulent comments ever made on the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas by Lula, a prominent voice from the South whose country currently holds the rotating presidency of the G20.
The 78-year-old leader condemned Hamas' October 7 attack on Israel, calling it a
"terrorist"
act in the process.
But he has since been very critical of Israel's military campaign of retaliation.
The Brazilian president also criticized recent decisions by major Western donors to suspend their funding of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, whose 12 employees Israel has accused of being involved in the Hamas attack .
Brazil will increase its own contribution to the agency, said Lula, who met Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh on Saturday on the sidelines of the summit, urging other countries to do the same.
“When I see rich countries announcing that they are stopping contributing to humanitarian aid to the Palestinians, I imagine the extent of the political consciousness of these people and the spirit of solidarity that animates them
,” he said. he quipped.
“We must stop being small when we must be big”
.
He reiterated his call for a settlement of the conflict based on the coexistence of two States, with Palestine
“definitively recognized as a sovereign State in its own right”
.