The President of the Republic defended this Friday that moderation will allow peace and the construction of two States, Israel and Palestine, which Portugal has supported “always”, following the position of the United Nations.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa spoke to journalists at the end of a visit to the Diplomatic Bazaar of the Lisbon Congress Center, during which he told the head of the Palestinian diplomatic mission in Portugal that some Palestinians “should not have started” this war with Israel, condemning the Hamas attack of October 7.
Given the disappointment expressed by Nabil Abuznaid for not having also condemned Israel’s military offensive in the Gaza Strip, the President of the Republic reiterated the message he left to the Palestinian diplomat: “This time it was a monumental mistake to start. They started.” and, therefore, this time they were responsible for what, from the point of view of the moderates, of the moderate Palestinians, is counterproductive.”
Asked if the reaction of the head of the Palestinian diplomatic mission bothers him, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa responded: “No, nothing, nothing. I am with him every year, he is a very moderate person and, in fact, I drew his “Pay attention.” to the moderation that he has and that the Palestinian Authority should have, because he is interested in that moderation.
“It is moderation that will allow paths towards what we want, which is that there is peace, that there is respect for people and that there is the possibility of building two States, an Israeli State and a Palestinian State,” he stated. defended.
The Head of State affirmed that Nabil Abuznaid “has been here for a long time and knows that the Portuguese position does not deviate from the position of the United Nations” on this matter, in favor of two States, Israel and Palestine, “which Portugal supports, it has always been a Portuguese position.
“That is the main objective, is to reach two states, especially for the representatives of the Palestinian Authority, for whom it is very important to separate the Palestinians from the terrorist movements that do not represent the entire Palestinian people,” he said.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa pointed out that “the Israeli ambassador did not come” to this edition of the Diplomatic Bazaar and that his words to Nabil Abuznaid correspond to what he considers “important to tell Palestine, which is to defend its rights, to praise the moderation of the Palestinians moderates and condemn terrorist attacks.
“What I would have said to Israel is very simple: that the right to self-defense requires taking into account humanitarian law,” he added.
Israel does not have a place in this edition of the Diplomatic Bazaar that began this Friday in Lisbon, nor does the United States of America.
The Islamist group Hamas, classified as terrorist by the European Union and the United States of America, which controls the Gaza Strip, launched an unprecedented attack on Israeli territory on October 7, in which it killed and kidnapped soldiers and civilians, including children.
According to the Israeli government, Hamas killed more than 1,400 people in Israel and took around 220 hostages, four of whom have since been released.
The Israeli military responded to the Hamas attack with bombings and cutting off water, food, electricity and fuel supplies to the Gaza Strip, home to more than two million people, warning the enclave’s population that they would be in danger. if it did not move south. .
Authorities in the Gaza Strip report more than nine thousand people killed by Israeli bombings, including more than three thousand children.
Source: TSF
