MEXICO CITY

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva released a statement Sunday condemning an Israeli airstrike in a designated humanitarian “safe zone” in southern Gaza that killed at least 90 Palestinians, calling on world leaders to speak up against an "endless massacre."

Israel said it targeted Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif in the attack Saturday on a displaced people’s camp, which also wounded at least 300 civilians.

“The Israeli government continues to sabotage the peace process and the cease-fire in the Middle East,” said Lula on his X account.

“The most recent bombing carried out in the Gaza Strip, killing hundreds of innocent people, is unacceptable. Now with more than 90 fatalities and almost 300 wounded in tents that housed children, the elderly and women.”

The strike in the Al-Mawasi area near Khan Younis was intended to kill Deif, who Israel claimed was hiding among civilians.

However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at a press conference in Tel Aviv that it was “not absolutely certain” that the military chief and another senior commander were killed in the strike.

Lula said “it is appalling that they continue to collectively punish the Palestinian people. There have already been tens of thousands of deaths in consecutive attacks since last year, many of them in designated humanitarian zones that should be protected.”

“We, the political leaders of the democratic world, cannot remain silent in the face of this endless massacre.

“The cease-fire and peace in the region need to be priorities on the international agenda. All our efforts must be focused on securing the release of the Israeli hostages and ending the attacks on the Gaza Strip,” he added.

At least 38,584 Palestinians have been killed since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7 last year, according to Gaza's Ministry of Health, a direct result of military operations carried out by the Israeli army with the backing of the Western world.

But the actual death toll could surpass local authorities' estimates, with the British medical journal The Lancet recently publishing a study assessing that the real figure could be up to 186,000 when accounting for indirect deaths and missing people.

President Lula has been a vocal critic of the relentless attacks by the Israeli government against the Palestinian people, which he has called a “genocide” and compared it to the Holocaust during the Second World War.

His criticisms have created a diplomatic rift between the two countries, with Israel declaring Lula "persona non-grata" and Brazil recalling its ambassador to Israel.

Other Latin American leaders such as Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Colombian President Gustavo Petro and Bolivian President Luis Arce have backed Lula's stance and have joined in the condemnation of the atrocities committed by Israel.