Israel-Hamas war: Ibero-American governments express their deep concern over attacks

Marina Vanni

The conflict that broke out on October 7 as a result of attacks by the extremist group Hamas from Gaza, which unleashed a fierce armed response from Israel, has left hundreds of casualties on both sides and has caused the concern of global leaders.

Argentina made a strong statement on the matter: "The Argentine government condemns the terrorist actions of Hamas against Israeli territory and calls for an end to the violence and guarantees for the protection of the civilian population", the Foreign Ministry said on Twitter. The authorities confirmed at least 7 Argentinean victims while 15 citizens were still missing as of Tuesday morning.

In Spain, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said: "We strongly condemn terrorism and demand the immediate cessation of indiscriminate violence against the civilian population".

For his part, the country’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, posted on Twitter/X that he spoke with his peers from Israel, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, in addition to the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, to evaluate the consequences of the conflict.

On the same social network, the president of Chile, Gabriel Boric, said: "Our solidarity is and will always be with the victims of violence, without distinction. We are pained by humanity."

"We condemn without nuance the brutal attacks, murders, and kidnappings by Hamas. Nothing can justify them or relativize their strongest repudiation. We also condemn the indiscriminate attacks against civilians carried out by the Israeli army in Gaza and the illegal occupation of Palestinian territory for decades in violation of international law. In pain there are no possible ties, each fact is a tragedy by itself," he added.

In Mexico, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador commented on the aggresion in his morning conference on Monday, October 9. He said that "we do not want war, we are in favor of peace" and added that "Mexico is a friend of all the peoples of the world" and that "we do not want to take sides in any conflict".

Gustavo Petro, president of Colombia, pronounced himself in a similar vein to López Obrador, without aligning with one side or the other. "The only way for Israeli children to sleep in peace is for Palestinian children to sleep in peace. War will never achieve that, only a peace agreement that respects international legality and the right of both peoples to exist freely," he said.

In his speech on the occasion of Brazil’s future presidency of the G20, the country’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mauro Viera, reiterated his condemnation of the attacks against Israel, expressed his condolences to the victims and stressed the urgency of initiatives by the international community to halt the current escalation, as stated by the Government on Twitter/X.

Meanwhile, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva shared on the same platform his shock over the terrorist attacks and added that "Brazil will spare no effort to prevent the escalation of the conflict, including in its role as President of the UN Security Council."

Author: Marina Vanni