Brazil's Lula says Israel response 'as grave' as Hamas attack

Brazil's Lula says Israel response 'as grave' as Hamas attack

Brazil's president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva accuses Israel of "killing innocent people without any criteria" in the Gaza Strip, deeming its actions there "as grave" as the October 7 attacks by Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Lula's comments come as he welcomes the return of 22 Brazilians and ten members of their families, who had been evacuated from Gaza on Sunday via the land border with Egypt after more than a month of waiting in the conflict zone.

On 7 October Hamas launched an attack on southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians and taking 239 hostages, according to Israel.

Since then Israeli bombardment of the besieged Gaza Strip has killed more than 11,000 people, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.