Brazil's ruling Workers Party slams Israel for holding Brazilians in Gaza

Brazil's ruling Workers Party criticised the Israeli government on Friday for not allowing 34 Brazilians to leave Gaza, saying Israel is playing favorites when deciding who should be permitted to evacuate the besieged Palestinian territory.

Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen told his Brazilian counterpart Brazil's nationals would leave Gaza by Wednesday, a Brazilian foreign ministry spokesman said late on Friday.

In three days since the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt opened to allow nationals of other countries to leave Gaza amid the devastating war there, Brazilians waiting to leave were not on the list approved by Israel, despite diplomatic efforts to include them.

"For the third time, the Israeli government denied the departure of Brazilian citizens threatened by the massacre against the civilian population in the Gaza strip," Workers Party president Gleisi Hoffmann said in a social media post.

She said the Israeli government has not provided any explanation for what she said was discrimination. Brazil tried to find a negotiated solution to the conflict when it presided over the UN Security Council in October, Hoffmann said.

"Unfortunately, the Israeli government signals that it has established a political hierarchy for the release of civilians, favouring some countries over others," Hoffmann said.

"We cannot allow that Brazilian civilians remain threatened in a region under military massacre."

Hundreds of foreign passport holders and gravely injured Palestinians have been evacuated from Gaza via the Rafah crossing to Egypt since Wednesday in a deal brokered by Qatar between Egypt, Israel and Hamas, in coordination with the US.

A diplomatic source briefed on Egyptian plans said some 7,500 foreign passport holders would be evacuated over two weeks.

Brazilian officials said they have no explanation for the failure to let their citizens out of Gaza. Some local media have speculated it is due to positions taken by Brazil at the United Nations and comments by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Lula has criticised the "terrorism" of Hamas that started the war, but he has also criticised Israel for its "insane" bombardment of Gaza that has killed hundreds of children.

Israel has occupied Palestinian territory, including Gaza, for decades and has carried out several previous assaults on the enclave.

The current Gaza war began on 7 October after Hamas and other Palestinian militants launched an attack inside Israel i territory, killing more than 1,400 people.

Israel has since waged a relentless military campaign against the strip, killing nearly 9,500 people so far.

(Reuters)