Lula’s party calls out Israel for “genocide” in Gaza

On Monday, Brazil’s Workers’ Party — of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva — condemned both Hamas and Israel for attacks against civilians, echoing a similar statement by the federal government on the conflict.

A resolution approved by the party’s national committee “condemns the unacceptable attacks, murders … committed by both Hamas and the State of Israel, which is carrying out, at this very moment, a genocide against the population of Gaza, through a series of war crimes.”

A statement by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva last week also called for action on both sides, saying: “Hamas must release Israeli children who have been kidnapped from their families. Israel must cease bombing so that Palestinian children and their mothers can leave the Gaza Strip across the border with Egypt.”

Lula’s first statement on the subject on October 7 failed to mention Hamas by name, though the president did say he was “shocked by the terrorist attacks carried out against civilians in Israel.” 

In previous statements, the Workers’ Party was less straightforward about Hamas. 

A statement made earlier this month by the party did not mention Hamas at all. Back in 2021, the party called for an end to the “attack against Palestine” and mentioned “the resurgence of the conflict between Hamas and the Israeli government,” without specifically condemning Hamas.

Congresswoman Gleisi Hoffmann, the Workers’ Party’s chairperson, stressed last week that the party does not hold a relationship with Hamas. In late 2022, following Lula’s electoral victory against Jair Bolsonaro, Hamas congratulated Lula — saying the incumbent Brazilian president “is known for his strong and continued support for Palestinians in all international forums.”

A recent statement by the São Paulo Forum, a loose coalition of Latin American leftist parties of which the Workers’ Party is a founding member, also does not cite Hamas by name.

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