Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva speaks in Cairo during visit to Egypt
Cairo, February 16 (RHC)-- Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has said Israel's behavior in the Gaza Strip, which is enduring a genocidal war by the occupying regime, is beyond explanation. "Israel's behavior has no explanation," he said after a meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo on Thursday.
"With the pretext of fighting Hamas, it (Israel) is killing women and children," Lula said. The regime's war machine rolled into Gaza on October 7, 2023 following an operation by the coastal sliver's resistance movements, including Hamas, against the occupied territories, dubbed Operation al-Aqsa Storm.
More than 28,660 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have so far died in the brutal Israeli onslaught so far. The Israeli regime's response was "disproportional and indiscriminate" and unacceptable, the Brazilian head of state noted.
"The killing must be stopped," he said, calling for an immediate ceasefire to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza, which is also suffering from an all-out Israeli siege.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Lula criticized the United Nations over its inability to resolve the situation in Gaza, including through the failure of the world body's Security Council (UNSC) to pass a resolution calling for cessation of the Israeli aggression.
"The multilateral institutions that were created to help solve these problems do not work, which is why Brazil is committed to making the necessary changes in global governance bodies," he said. Lula called for reformation of the Security Council, saying the UNSC's had to be expanded and its veto powers abolished.
The Brazilian chief executive also denounced the Western countries' withdrawal of their support for UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, over Israeli allegations that 12 of the agency's 13,000-strong staff in Gaza were involved in Operation al-Aqsa Storm.
"The recent allegations against the agency's staff need to be properly investigated, but they cannot paralyze it," he said, calling on other countries "to maintain and increase their contributions."
