Lula criticizes Israel and says that terrorism does not justify the death of innocent people

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said this Tuesday (24) that the terrorist actions carried out by Hamas on October 7 do not justify the Israeli bombings against the Gaza Strip.

Lula also criticized Jewish settlements in the Palestinian territory of the West Bank, considered illegal by the majority of the international community.

“We need to ensure that, in the Middle East, Israel keeps its territory, which is demarcated by the UN, and the Palestinians have the right to have their land. It’s that simple. And no one needs to invade anyone’s land,” said Lula. “It is not because Hamas committed a terrorist act against Israel that Israel has to kill thousands of innocent people.”

The statements were given to the EBC program Conversa com o Presidente, presented by journalist Marcos Uchoa.

On October 7, the Islamic group Hamas launched Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, entering Israeli communities and murdering around 1,200 people, most of them civilians. Since then, the state of Israel has begun an unprecedented incursion into the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

In Gaza, at least 5,087 people lost their lives in more than 7,000 bombings launched by the Israeli Armed Forces. Of these, 2,055 children and 1,119 women. In the West Bank, where the Hamas group does not operate, 95 people were killed by Israeli police forces.

“If the UN had strength, it could have greater interference [no conflito]. The US could have greater interference. But people don’t want to, people want to encourage hate, people want to encourage hate,” she said.

Lula said he hopes that “Israel understands what is happening to thousands of children in the Gaza Strip” and that “Hamas understands what happened.”

The president also stated that he has already done “everything possible” to help mediate the conflict, citing conversations with authorities from Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Iran, Turkey, the European Union and Egypt.

“This is not how we solve problems,” said Lula, citing the bombings. “No one dies at a negotiation table, it’s cheaper and we can find a solution.”