In December last year, the federal government announced that Brazil would send 150 water purifiers to the Gaza Strip. In total, each piece of equipment sent has the capacity to purify up to 5 thousand liters of water per day.
However, the Israeli government blocked part of Brazilian humanitarian aid. According to Itamaraty, which confirmed the information to the newspaper O Globo, the Israeli authorities claim security reasons. This is because solar panels were attached to the purifiers, so that the equipment can work.
The use of the plates “for other purposes” was the justification. The retention of Brazilian cargo was reported by Italian deputy Ângelo Bonelli, from the Europa Verde party.
Bonelli, who is in the region, said on his social networks that 400 packages were at the Rafah crossing, of which 30 were sent by Brazil.
However, diplomats interviewed by the media did not analyze the impediment placed by Israel as a result of the recent diplomatic crisis between the two countries.
The assessment was that this type of security procedure is frequently adopted when bringing food, medicine and other items such as humanitarian aid to people in the Gaza Strip. According to the Italian deputy, humanitarian aid trucks arrive little by little.
“From 1,500 to 2,000 trucks wait up to 30 days to receive the Israeli green light. Children begin to starve. It is a horror that must be stopped,” said Bonelli. At least 30,717 Palestinians have been killed and 72,156 injured in Israeli attacks on Gaza since 7 October.
The death toll in Israel is around 1,300 and 250 kidnapped. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva reacted to the blockade and stated that the population of the Gaza Strip has been prevented from receiving humanitarian aid.
According to Lula, due to the Israeli conflict with Hamas, “more than 30 tons” of food were no longer sent to the region.