On Sunday February 18, Brazilian President Lula accused Israel of committing a “genocide” Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. “What is happening in the Gaza Strip with the Palestinian people has not happened at any other time in history. In fact, it has happened before: when Hitler decided to kill the Jews”, said the left-wing leader. His comments immediately provoked a reaction from the Israeli Prime Minister, who denounced comments “shameful and serious” and summons the Brazilian ambassador to Israel on Monday. Follow our live stream.
France and Egypt express “their firm opposition” to an offensive on Rafah. During a telephone call on Saturday, Emmanuel Macron and Abdel Fattah al-Sissi also expressed their opposition “any forced displacement of populations” towards Egypt, which “would constitute a violation of international humanitarian law”, emphasizing “the urgency of drastically increasing the entry of aid for the population of Gaza”.
Washington threatens to block a UN resolution calling for a “ceasefire”. The American ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, believes that putting this text to a vote could “to go against” ongoing diplomatic negotiations for a truce including further releases of hostages. “If we came to a vote on the current project, it would not be adopted”she warned, clearly evoking a veto.
A new assessment communicated by Hamas in Gaza. The Hamas Health Ministry said Sunday that the Israeli offensive left 28,985 people dead, the vast majority civilians. According to Israel, 130 hostages are still held in Gaza, 30 of whom are believed to have died, out of around 250 people kidnapped.