Reporter: Mr. President, thank you very much for this opportunity. I'm Sherifa Zuhur, from the Anadolu agency. I would like to ask a question about the situation in Lebanon. It has been reported that in just one day more than 500 civilians were killed. And now the Israeli military has also announced that it is preparing for a ground offensive in Lebanon. How do you assess this, and do you think it's time to call for a global arms embargo on Israel? Thank you very much.

President Lula: Look, it's just important to remember that the total number of people killed in Lebanon is 620. This is the highest death toll since the civil war that lasted from 1975 to 1990. It's also important to remember that 94 women have died, 50 children, 2,058 people have been injured and, in fact, 10,000 people have been forced to empty their homes. In other words, this is the world, and in the West Bank a lot of people have also died. We have 5,700 people injured. In the occupied West Bank, 9 women have died, 160 children. And we are realizing that 716 people have died, according to the country's Ministry of Health and Al Jazeera. In addition to what I call genocide in the Gaza Strip. It's important to remember that [Israeli] Prime Minister Netanyahu was tried by the International Court that tried [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, and he is condemned in the same way as Putin.

It's important to remember that there have been several discussions here in the UN Security Council. Several attempts at peace and ceasefires have been approved and he doesn't comply. It simply doesn't comply. And that's why we're in this fight to strengthen the UN as an instrument that has the strength to take a decision and make things happen. I honestly think that the countries that support Prime Minister Netanyahu's speech need to start making a greater effort to stop this genocide. Because we're in a situation where, on the one hand, we're looking after the planet to see if we have a better quality of life, to see if we reduce greenhouse gases, to see if we reduce burning, to see if we preserve the forests, to see if we look after the water. And on the other hand, human beings are killing themselves. There's no explanation.

Therefore, I strongly condemn this behavior by the Israeli government, which I am sure the majority of the Israeli people do not agree with this genocide. I'm sure of it. It's important to remember that when it all began, Israel said that 1,405 people had been killed. According to the Israeli government, the number has dropped to 139, you know? Of the people killed.

And we're also fighting to free the Hamas hostages. It makes no sense. It makes no sense to hold innocent people hostage. And it's important that Hamas contributes so that there is more eloquence and demand from the Israeli government and releases the hostages so that things return to normal. That's it. I don't think humanity can live with and accept normally what is happening in Israel, what is happening in the Gaza Strip, what is happening in Lebanon, what is happening in the occupied West Bank.

I think there's a slight translation error here, but what I think Lula means is not that Hamas is demanding, but that there need to be more demands from other countries and people pressuring Israel to stop the genocide. I believe that what he sees as the only Casus Belli/Argument that Israel has in trying to justify this genocide to the West is that “Oh no, Hamas killed 100 people, now we need to do a nuclear strike on Gaza!”. That if Hamas released these people (Which I believe they were doing before Israel decided to bomb them) would make Israel look like what it really is, an aggressor.