Amid Israel’s bombers and military incursions into Gaza, which have already left more than 9,000 people dead, according to Gaza authorities, Brazilians in the region are still prevented from leaving the Gaza Strip via the border with Egypt. According to the Brazilian ambassador to the West Bank, another 576 people were allowed to leave the region this Thursday (2), 400 of whom were citizens of the United States and none of them from Brazil.
Among those authorized to leave Gaza are citizens of Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Belgium, South Korea, Croatia, the United States, Greece, the Netherlands, Hungary, Italy, Macedonia, Mexico, Switzerland, Sri Lanka and Chad. The departure of citizens was authorized following an agreement between the governments of Israel and Egypt moderated by Qatar and coordinated by the United States, whose president, Joe Biden, had been personally pressuring the governments for the release of American citizens.
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Itamaraty registers 34 people registered in Gaza for repatriation, 18 of which are in the border city of Rafah, which connects the strip to Egypt, and 16, 10 km away, in Khan Yunis.
Bombing of refugee camp
The uncertainty regarding the situation of Brazilians in Gaza occurs amid the intensification of attacks and bombings of innocent people in the region by Israeli troops. On Wednesday (1) the Israeli government confirmed that it had bombed the Jabalia refugee camp for the second consecutive day, a poor region that has existed since 1948 and in which the majority of campers depend on humanitarian aid.
According to the United Nations, the region has around 116,000 refugees, which increases international pressure on Israel. On Wednesday, after confirming the second day in a row of attacks, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “horrified” by the situation and called for respect for International Law, which prohibits indiscriminate attacks on civilian targets.
In a statement read by UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric, Guterres called on the parties to “respect international law”. The United Nations leader says he condemns “in the strongest terms any murder of civilians.”
On social media, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights reported that, “given the high number of civilian casualties and the scale of destruction caused by Israeli airstrikes on the Jabalia refugee camp, we are seriously concerned that these are disproportionate attacks that could constitute war crimes.”
Israel, in turn, claims that it killed the head of Hamas’s anti-tank unit in the bombing and that the group still holds 240 Israeli civilians hostage. In a statement this Thursday, Israeli Army spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari stated that the offensive is taking place “according to plan”.
“The forces [israelenses] continue to dismantle Hamas defense lines in northern Gaza and take control of central areas. (…) We continue to fiercely defend our northern border and attack by air or land any attempt to shoot at or infiltrate Israel.”
Editing: Rodrigo Chagas
Source: www.brasildefato.com.br
