Brazil is “against Hamas,” Lula says for the first time

Lula addressing a meeting of the Arab League, in Cairo, Egypt. Photo: Ricardo Stuckert/PR

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said Thursday for the first time that Brazil is “against Hamas,” and at the same time that “there is no explanation for Israel’s behavior (…) killing women and children.”

According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), thousands of children in Gaza have been killed in recent Israeli operations.

Lula addressed the Israel-Hamas conflict in two separate statements in Cairo, the first after a bilateral meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi and the second during a meeting of the Arab League.

Lula reiterated Brazil’s position that Hamas committed “a terrorist act” on October 7, 2023, stopping short of calling Hamas itself a terrorist organization. However, he added, “Israel’s disproportionate and indiscriminate reaction is unacceptable and constitutes one of the most tragic episodes of this long conflict.”

The president reiterated his call for a “definitive ceasefire” in the region and stressed Brazil’s support for South Africa’s genocide case against Israel.

Lula also reiterated his longstanding position calling for an internationally recognized Palestinian state “including Gaza and the West Bank, with East Jerusalem as its capital,” as well as Brazil’s call for expanded membership in the United Nations Security Council. Israel, he added, “has not complied with any” of the UN’s decisions.

Lula thanked Mr. Sisi for Egypt’s help in repatriating Brazilians from the region. A total of 117 Brazilians or their Palestinian relatives have left Gaza on four flights since November last year.

Lula also said that Egypt’s recent inclusion in the BRICS group, approved last year, will allow the countries to “work together to reform the global order and build peace, especially at a time when protectionist pressures and conflicts that penalize the poorest countries are resurfacing.”