Brazil's Lula: 'It’s not a war, it’s a genocide'

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has made his strongest comments on the ongoing war in Israel-Palestine so far.

"It’s not a war, it’s a genocide that has killed nearly 2 thousand children who have nothing to do with this war, they are victims of this war," he said in comments reported by the country's publicly owned news outlet Agencia Brasil.

"I don’t know how a human being is capable of war knowing that the result of that war is the death of innocent children," Lula added without mentioning either Israel or the Palestinians by name.

The veteran left-winger said he was also working with Qatar to make sure Brazilians in Gaza were returned home safely.

According to Agencia Brasil, there are 30 Brazilians in Gaza. It is not clear whether that number includes a Brazilian hostage held by Palestinian armed groups in the area.