By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

“Israel is committing a genocide against the Palestinians, and I find this purchase process complicated.”

The Brazilian president’s chief advisor, Celso Amorim, has postponed for the second time the signing of a contract with Israel’s largest military manufacturer Elbit Systems for 36 armored vehicles with cannons, the Middle East Monitor (MEMO) reported.

Amorim said the decision was made in compliance with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) recommendation “not to cooperate with Israel on the military side” over the Gaza genocide.

“Israel is committing a genocide against the Palestinians, and I find this purchase process complicated,” he reportedly told CNN.

“First, the International Court decision recommends not cooperating with Israel in this military aspect, in addition, we must wait until this state of instability in the conflict with Gaza ends,” he added, according to MEMO.

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The chief advisor stressed that “the current (Israeli) government, headed by Benjamin Netanyahu, has acted in a manner that deserves reprehension from a military point of view, so relying militarily on Israel is a sensitive matter for us.”

Amorim stressed that “the political and diplomatic aspect of the agreements is very important, and it is a component that must be constantly evaluated, and it is not just about technology and price.”

‘Self-Propelled Vehicles’

In May, Brazil’s Defence Minister Jose Mucio Monteiro postponed signing the purchase contract for a period of 60 days.

MEMO cited the Brazilian newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo as having reported at the time that the deal involved the import of self-propelled vehicles for up to 750 million Brazilian reals ($145 million).

The suspension in May came after Jewish Voices for Liberation and Amnesty International sent a letter to da Silva to request Brazil impose an embargo on arms deals with Israel.

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“Seven months after the start of Israel’s most recent military offensive in the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian enclave has been transformed into a wasteland by the Israel Defence Forces,” the signatories pointed out in their letter.

“There is an urgent need for effective action by the Brazilian government to stop the ongoing offensive and mobilise the international system to take collective measures within international humanitarian and other international laws.”

Diplomatic Tensions

In February, Brazil expelled the Israeli ambassador and recalled its envoy from Tel Aviv over Gaza genocide.

It also followed Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz having declared the Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva “persona non grata.”

At the time, Israel said Lula was not welcome in Israel until he retracted his remarks likening Tel Aviv’s attack on Gaza to Hitler’s campaign to eradicate Jews in Nazi Germany.

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Lula earlier told reporters at the African Union Summit that “what is happening in the Gaza Strip with the Palestinian people hasn’t happened at any other moment in history. Actually, it has happened: when Hitler decided to kill the Jews.”

He added, “What’s happening in the Gaza Strip isn’t a war, it’s a genocide. It is not a war of soldiers against soldiers. It is a war between a very prepared army and women and children”.

Staggering Death Toll

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza.

Israel is currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians since it began waging a devastating war on Gaza last October.

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According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 39,897 Palestinians have been killed, and 92,152 wounded. Moreover, at least 11,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.

Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’.

Mass Displacement

Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.

The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.

The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.

Later in the war, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians began moving from the south to central Gaza in a constant search for safety.

(PC, MEMO)