Brazil's Lula brands Israeli military offensive in Gaza "genocide"

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva once again branded Israel's military offensive in the Gaza Strip a "genocide" at an event in Rio de Janeiro on February 23.

"What the Israeli government is doing to the Palestinian people is not war. It is genocide because they are killing women and children. It's not the soldiers who are dying, it's the women and children who are dying in hospitals. I don't know what it is if it's not genocide," Lula da Silva said, according to Anadolu.

However, the Brazilian leader stressed Brazil's defence of a "free and independent" Palestinian state living in harmony with Israel.

"Brazil's position on this issue is clear," he added.

Lula da Silva also criticised the role of the UN Security Council in dealing with global challenges.

"Today it represents nothing, it takes no decisions, so it does nothing for peace. There is so much hypocrisy and so little policy in the world today.

Just as we do not accept what is happening in Gaza, we cannot accept the war in Ukraine," he said.

Lula da Silva pointed out that Brazil is determined to do everything possible to reform the UN Security Council, where veto-wielding countries do not act democratically.