Lula denounces Israel’s revenge that killed nine Palestinian children

“The death of 9 of the 10 sons of the Palestinian doctor Alaa al-Najjar, as a consequence of Israel’s government air attack in the Gaza Strip, is another shameful and cowardly act. His only surviving son and her husband, also a doctor, are still in a critical condition,” said the president, in an official note published on the Planalto website.

Lula stated that Israel’s offensive has already exceeded any legitimacy limit.

“This is no longer a right of defense, combating terrorism or seeking the liberation of hostages in the power of Hamas. What we see in Gaza today is revenge,” he wrote.

According to the president, the sole purpose of the current phase of the conflict is to “deprive the Palestinians from the minimum living conditions in order to expel them from their legitimate territory.”

Massacre exposes standard of attacks on civilians in southern Gaza

The tragedy that victimized the Al-Najjar family took place in Khan Younis, an area under intense bombing since the beginning of the new Israeli offensive, named Gideon’s Carriage Operation.

The children’s father, Hamdi al-Najjar, also a doctor, was at home at the time of the attack and was seriously injured. The only surviving son, Adam, 10, is also in a critical condition.

Videos released by the local Civil Defense show the charred bodies being removed from the rubble. In front of the Nasser Hospital, where the bodies were taken, family members denounced the attack as a war crime.

“Suddenly, a f-16 missile destroyed the whole house, and all were civilians-my sister, her husband and her children,” said Wissam Al-Madhoun, uncle of the children.

On the same day, another 15 Palestinians were killed in bombing in different neighborhoods of Khan Youis, including two children and their parents, killed at dawn in the Amal neighborhood.

Bombings advance hospitals and residential areas

Since the beginning of the new offensive, Israel has intensified attacks on medical centers, densely populated areas and civil structures.

According to Haaretz survey of WHO data, at least 10 hospitals and clinics were hit in one week, including Gaza’s European Hospital, Kamal Adwan, Turco-Palestine Hospital and Nasser Hospital itself, where Alaa Al-Najjar worked.

The World Health Organization estimates that about 400,000 Palestinians will be without access to functional medical care.

Al-Awda Hospital, in the north of the Gaza Strip, was looted after forced evacuation and works with critical capacity. Surgeries are performed without anesthesia and patients sleep in the corridors.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Sunday (26) that Palestinians live “the most cruel phase of this cruel conflict.”

He has classified as “unacceptable” the rhythm of humanitarian aid and warned that “without fast and safe access to assistance, more people will die – and the consequences for the population will be deep.”

Military justifications contrast with reality of the offensive

The army of Israel confirmed that it had performed the attack on Khan Youis, claiming that the target was a group of “suspects” in a previously evacuated combat zone.

The military justification, recurring in recent weeks, maintains that Hamas operates among civilians and uses hospitals as a shield.

However, the case al-najjar exemplifies the abyss between military rhetoric and the reality experienced by the civilian population. Bombing reached a home residential house and occurred while the mother was on duty in a hospital. There was no prior warning or proof of military activity in the area.

“This episode symbolizes, in all its dimensions, the cruelty and inhumanity of a conflict that opposes a strongly armed state against the defenseless civilian population,” Lula wrote.

For the Brazilian government, the case represents not only a massacre, but part of a pattern of action whose objective is “the expulsion of the Palestinians of their legitimate territory.”