Brazil
The government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) confirmed this Thursday (30) that there is a Brazilian among the hostages of the terrorist group Hamas and that it is negotiating his release.
Lula himself commented on the case in an interview with journalists in Doha, Qatar, saying he could be “released in these days.” The president discussed the issue with Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad alThani.
“The second [que tratei com o emir] It is a credit to Qatar because Qatar played an important role in the release of the Brazilians who were in the Gaza Strip. “There are more Brazilians there, [estamos trabalhando] in the release of a hostage who can still be released today,” the President said.
Planalto’s press office later confirmed that he has dual citizenship, BrazilianIsraeli, but did not disclose further information such as gender and age.
Planalto also added that the Brazilian president had already discussed the matter with the emir by telephone and returned to the issue at Thursday’s meeting. He also said that the release had also been discussed with Israel’s President Isaac Herzog.
The Foreign Ministry, in turn, says there is a “possibility” that he is a Brazilian citizen, but they are still working to confirm this information.
Chancellor Mauro Vieira also asked the Prime Minister and Chancellor of Qatar, Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani, for assistance in confirming the information and also for its publication.
The terrorist group Hamas took hostages when it invaded Israeli territory in early October. Days later, the Israeli Defense Ministry reported that Brazilians were among those held by the terrorist group Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The announcement was made by Jonathan Conricus, spokesman for the Israeli army.
“We have [entre os reféns] “Americans, British, French, Germans, Italians, Brazilians, Argentinians, Ukrainians and several other countries,” he said in a video. “We are determined to bring them back.”
However, the information was never officially confirmed. However, the Itamaraty confirmed at the end of October that a Brazilian was missing.
This is Michel Nisenbaum, 59, who has been missing since the 7th, when Hamas terrorists broke through barriers and carried out the worst attack against Israel in 50 years. “The Brazilian Embassy in Tel Aviv confirmed the missing status of the national to local authorities,” read an excerpt from a statement released by Itamaraty at the time.
There is no confirmation that this Brazilian citizen is the hostage mentioned by Lula this Thursday.