MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Israel's actions in Gaza violate international humanitarian law, Brazil's FM says

Vieira said he was confident that Brazil's friendship with Israel would survive the behavior of the current government in Tel Aviv

Brazil's Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira told his country's Senate Thursday that Israel's “blockade of humanitarian aid in the current context of famine and lack of medical supplies in Gaza is a violation of international law,” Agencia Brasil reported. The administration of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “continues to systematically hinder the entry of trucks with humanitarian aid at the borders with Gaza,” Vieira denounced.

Vieira appeared before the Senate at the invitation of Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Renan Calheiros to speak about the relationship between Brazil and Israel, which has been shaken following statements by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva that Tel Aviv's actions against the Palestinian people amounted to genocide. Relations worsened after Lula liked Israel's deployment in Gaza to Hitler's Germany in World War II.

More than 15,000 tons of international humanitarian aid supplies are awaiting approval from the Israeli government to enter Gaza, more than half of which is food, Brazil's top diplomat explained.

“What we can do, and what we will continue to do in our current line, is to denounce Israel's unilateral decision to repeatedly block the entry of humanitarian aid and to continue working with neighboring countries and international organizations in favor of opening humanitarian corridors,” Vieira insisted.

The minister also confirmed that part of the humanitarian aid sent by Brazil to Gaza, consisting of 30 water purifiers, was withheld by Israeli forces, with no reasons given, although Vieira hinted it could be because the “purifiers are solar-powered and have voltaic kits.”

Lula said during an appearance in Ethiopia that Israel's retaliation following the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks by Hamas resembled Nazi Germany practices since over 31,000 people have been killed in Gaza, 70% of whom were women and children. “It is in this context of deep indignation that President Lula's statements are set. They are words that express the sincerity of someone who seeks to preserve and value the supreme value of human life,” Vieira insisted.

He also regretted that Israel's diplomacy “had been directed disrespectfully towards a head of state of a friendly country. He added that Tel Aviv had been told that Brazil would ”always react with diplomacy, but with all firmness to any attack it receives, now and always.“ Vieira also said he was confident ”that Brazil's relations with Israel and our friendship with the Israeli people will survive the behavior of the current Israeli government.“

”Israel has the right to defend its population, but this has to be done within the rules of international law. With each passing day, however, it becomes clear that Israel's reaction to the attack has been extremely disproportionate and has not only targeted those responsible for the attack, but the entire Palestinian people,“ Vieira also underlined.

The Foreign Minister also said the dispute between Israel and Palestine was the ”last great unresolved colonial conflict after almost 70 years of discussions, wars, negotiated agreements, many of which were never implemented“ as tension between the parties has escalated over the years.

Regarding the current conflict, the minister stressed that Brazil defends the two-state solution, with internationally recognized borders, and therefore regretted recent statements from Tel Aviv. ”There have been more and more recurrent statements from senior officials in the current Israeli government who have openly spoken of occupying Gaza, forcibly displacing its population and that they will never accept the establishment of a Palestinian state,“ he said.

The minister also mentioned his concern about Israel's decision, announced last week, to increase by around 3,500 new Israeli settlements on Palestinian land. ”As a friendly country to the State of Israel and the State of Palestine, and as a country that harmoniously houses communities of Arab and Jewish origin, Brazil's position has been, and continues to be, in favor of dialogue and negotiations that lead to a two-state solution, with Palestine and Israel living together in peace and security within mutually agreed and internationally recognized borders,” he said.

(Source: Agencia Brasil)