Brazil condemns Israeli attack that killed 93 in Gaza

The government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva condemned this Wednesday (30) the Israeli attacks on a residential building in Beit Lahia, in the Gaza Strip, which left at least 93 people dead. In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also criticized the “imposition of obstacles to the entry of humanitarian aid”.

“The Brazilian government condemns the Israeli bombing carried out yesterday, the 29th, against a residential building in Beit Lahia, in the north of the Gaza Strip. In this context, it deplores the intensification of Israeli military operations in this part of the Strip, with frequent attacks on homes and civilian infrastructure, including schools, hospitals and shelters, in Jabalia, Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahia”, states Itamaraty.

The attack killed dozens of children and women, according to local authorities. For weeks, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has been promoting sieges and bombings in northern Gaza, keeping its promise to annihilate all members of Hamas.

In the statement, Itamaraty “recalls the obligation, in accordance with International Humanitarian Law, for Israel to take the necessary measures to protect the civilian population in the occupied territories”.

Since the start of the conflict, more than 43,000 Palestinians have died in the Gaza Strip, the vast majority of them women and children.

“Brazil expresses concern about the imposition of obstacles to the entry of humanitarian aid into the North of the Strip and the evacuation orders issued by Israeli forces for the population in the region, an action that threatens to provoke a new forced displacement of thousands of civilians”, he concludes.

This Wednesday, the municipality of Beit Lahia declared a state of disaster after Israeli bombings during the night. The attack killed 8 other people.

“We declared a state of disaster in the city area, due to Israel’s war of extermination and siege. We have no food, water, hospitals, doctors, services or means of communication,” the local administration said in a statement.

In total, Israeli bombings killed nearly 350 people in the northern Gaza Strip between October 24 and 29, according to data from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Tor Wennesland, UN special envoy for the Middle East Peace Process, called the action “yet another deadly attack in the sequence of ‘mass casualty incidents’, […] which raises serious concerns about the violation of international rights.”