This Wednesday, the Foreign Minister expressed regret over the death of three Portuguese citizens in Gaza, including two minors, as well as two family members, and asked Israel to stop these bombings.
“The Portuguese government deeply regrets the death this afternoon in Gaza of five people, three nationals and two members of their families, in an explosion,” Joao Gomes Cravinho told reporters at a hotel in Bissau.
The Foreign Minister said that “one adult and two children” of Portuguese nationality had died and said that on behalf of Portugal he conveyed to his Israeli counterpart “disgust at these deaths”.
“What happened this afternoon, when three citizens of the country and two direct relatives of these citizens died, is further proof that this is the wrong path. We need to stop these explosions now,” he said.
The minister said the civilian casualties were on a “priority list” of 16 people to be expelled from the Gaza Strip provided by Portugal to Israeli and Egyptian authorities.
According to João Gomes Cravinho, “a pause, a ceasefire, a truce—it doesn’t matter,” as it is called, “as long as the result is a stop to bombings that cause civilian casualties.”
The minister announced that he had received instructions from his Israeli counterpart that “ten citizens and members of their families” would leave Gaza this Thursday, while “three minor citizens would not yet leave.”
Asked whether Portugal could have done more, the minister replied: “We have been in contact from the very beginning, since October 8 or 9, with the Egyptian and Israeli authorities, providing information received about Portuguese citizens and their immediate family members.” .
“At the moment there is nothing more we can do. That is, literally every day, and sometimes more than once a day, we insist on the need to remove these citizens and members of their families,” added Gomes Clove.
Israel’s offensive in Gaza continues for 40 days after the Islamist group Hamas, classified as a terrorist group by the European Union and the United States, launched an unprecedented attack on Israeli territory on October 7 in which soldiers were killed and kidnapped. and civilians, including children.
According to the Israeli government, Hamas killed more than 1,400 people in Israel and took about 220 hostages, four of whom were later released.
The Israeli military responded by bombing and cutting off supplies of water, food, electricity and fuel to the Gaza Strip, home to more than two million people.
Gaza Strip authorities say more than 11,000 people have been killed in Israeli bombing, including more than 4,000 children.