Brazil’s Lula calls on Israel and Hamas to spare children
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has called for an urgent ceasefire in the Israel-Palestine conflict to protect children caught up in the violence, while urging immediate action from the UN and international community to prevent human rights abuses.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday, the Brazilian leader appealed to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and countries all over the world to put an end to “the most serious violation of human rights in the conflict in the Middle East.”
“Children must never be held hostage, anywhere in the world,” Lula insisted.
The president stressed that Hamas must release Israeli children who have been kidnapped from their families, and that Israel must cease its bombing of Gaza so that Palestinian children and their mothers can leave the area and cross the border with Egypt.
“An international humanitarian intervention is urgently needed. A ceasefire is urgently needed in defense of Israeli and Palestinian children,” Lula wrote. He added that Brazil would join any efforts to bring the conflict to an “immediate and definitive end.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin has also called on Hamas and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to “leave women and children in peace” and avoid targeting civilians. “Russia is well aware that both Israel and Palestine [feel] really strong bitterness, but one should strive to minimize civilian casualties,” he said.
Moscow has repeatedly urged both sides to immediately end the hostilities, and has condemned the targeting of civilians in military operations and the taking of hostages as “unacceptable.”
The latest surge in violence began on Saturday when Hamas, a Palestinian militant group which controls much of Gaza, launched ‘Operation Al-Aqsa Flood’, firing rockets and sending commandos deep into Israeli territory. The IDF responded by bombing Gaza and cutting off all of its utilities, as Israel made an official declaration of war.
As of Thursday morning, Israel had recorded at least 1,300 dead and some 3,300 injured among its citizens. The Palestinian authorities in Gaza have recorded at least 1,203 dead and over 5,763 wounded since the outbreak of hostilities.
