1 of 1 Lula at a meeting at the Planalto Palace on December 20th Photo: Adriano Machado/Portal Lula at a meeting at the Planalto Palace on December 20th Photo: Adriano Machado/Portal
Itamaraty released a note on Wednesday (10) saying that President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) supports South Africa's lawsuit against Israel at the International Court of Justice.
According to the Portal news agency, the South African lawsuit asks the court to declare that Israel violated obligations under the Convention on the Prevention and Suppression of the Crime of Genocide in its conflict with Hamas. Israel rejects the allegations from South Africa.
Founded in 1945, the International Court of Justice is based in The Hague, Netherlands. The Court decides on disputes between states and responds to requests from special bodies or agencies of the United Nations (UN).
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MRE), Lula expressed his support for the South African initiative during a meeting on Wednesday with Palestinian Ambassador to Brazil Ibrahim Alzeben.
“President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva received today the Palestinian Ambassador to Brasília, Ibrahim Alzeben, to discuss the situation of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank after more than three months of the current crisis,” reads an excerpt from Itamaraty’s statement .
The MRE states in the note that Lula supports the South African initiative that the International Court of Justice should “order” Israel to stop actions and measures that could constitute genocide.
“In view of the flagrant violations of international humanitarian law, the President expressed his support for South Africa's initiative to call on the International Court of Justice to order Israel to immediately cease all acts and measures that could constitute genocide or related crimes under international law the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide,” the document completes.
The conflict in the Middle East began in October when the terrorist group Hamas attacked Israel, killing hundreds of Israeli civilians. In response, Israel bombed and invaded the Gaza Strip, Palestinian territory. More than 20,000 people died in the war.
Regarding the lawsuit filed by South Africa, Israel claims, according to the North American newspaper “New York Times”, that the country is distorting the meaning of genocide and the purpose of the international convention on the subject, to which the Israelis are signatories.
For Israel, the lawsuit should be filed against Hamas, a terrorist group that is the target of the Israeli army.
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Brazil condemned “terrorist attacks”
In the statement released by Itamaraty after Lula's meeting with the Palestinian ambassador, the Foreign Ministry said that the PT member recalled at the meeting that Brazil immediately condemned Hamas's “terrorist attacks.”
“[Lula] “Reaffirmed, however, that such acts do not justify Israel’s indiscriminate, recurring and disproportionate use of force against civilians,” the statement said.
The PT member also referred to Brazil's peace efforts in the Middle East and the formation of humanitarian corridors.
“The Brazilian government reiterates its defense of the twostate solution, in which an economically viable Palestinian state lives side by side with Israel in peace and security within mutually agreed and internationally recognized borders, which include the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. with East Jerusalem as its capital,” Itamaraty’s note concludes.