BRAZILIAN President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called for an immediate end to the ‘genocide’ in Gaza during a speech at the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States or CELAC summit.
“I want to take advantage of the presence of the UN Secretary General, my comrade Antonio Guterres, to propose a CELAC motion for an immediate end to this genocide,” Pres. Luiz Inacio ‘Lula’ da Silva, Brazil stated.
Lula urged UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to invoke Article 99 of the UN Charter, which would allow Guterres to bring to the attention of the Security Council any matter that may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security.
He also appealed to the government of Japan to take up the issue as a ‘matter of urgency’ after assuming the presidency of the UN Security Council for March this year.
“I call on the five permanent members of the UN Security Council to put aside their differences and put an end to this slaughter,” he added.
The Brazilian President continued to accuse the Israeli government of conducting a collective punishment on the Palestinian people.
“The humanitarian tragedy in Gaza requires all of us to be able to say enough is enough about the collective punishment that the Israeli government is imposing on the Palestinian people. People are dying in the line for food. The indifference of the international community is shocking,” he stated.
Israel has strongly denied all claims of genocide and said its war in Gaza was targeting Palestinian militant group Hamas, not the Palestinian people.
Lula’s calls come as the fighting continues in Gaza in the fifth month of the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Palestinian officials reported that more than 30,000 people had been killed since the conflict broke out in October 7 last year.
