Brasilia, February 14.- Brazil expressed its great concern about the recent announcement by the Israeli authorities of the preparation of a new military ground operation in the Gaza Strip.
If such a crusade is carried out, it will have serious consequences, in addition to new civilian victims, a new movement of forced displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, as has been happening since the beginning of the conflict, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicates in a statement.
It specifies that the beginning of forced displacements, first, from the North to the South of Gaza, as of October 8, is an inseparable element of the dramatic humanitarian crisis experienced four months ago by the population of Gaza.
It points out that the events deserve the condemnation of Brazil and a good part of the countries, in accordance with international law and international humanitarian law.
The Foreign Ministry also warns that, according to estimates, 80 percent of the inhabitants of Gaza were forced to leave their homes and most of them in the direction of Rafah (Egyptian city), initially indicated as a safe area by the Israeli authorities.
The ministry also reiterated the request to end hostilities and the release of the hostages held by the military wing of the Hamas movement as steps to overcome the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
It reaffirmed his commitment to a two-state solution, with a viable Palestinian one, living side by side with Israel, in peace and security, within mutually agreed upon and internationally recognized borders, which include the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem as its capital.
On January 10, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva expressed his support for South Africa's complaint against Israel before the International Court of Justice for war crimes and genocide in Gaza.
Before that court, the African country accused Tel Aviv on December 29 of perpetrating a systematic and intentional elimination against the Palestinian people in the enclave.
Such support for Pretoria was announced in a statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs after Lula received the Palestinian ambassador to Brazil, Ibrahim Alzeben, to discuss the situation in Gaza and the West Bank.
In four months of conflict between Israel and Palestine, which broke out on October 7 with attacks by Hamas, the Israeli reaction left a trail of 28,473 dead and 68,146 injured in Gaza, most of them women and children.
Lula condemns the aggressions of Hamas, however, he reiterates that the acts do not justify the indiscriminate, recurrent and disproportionate use of force by Israel against civilians. (Text and photo: PL)
