The Secretary-General of the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP), Paulo Raimundo, stated on Thursday that “the Portuguese government is far from doing what is urgent to end the genocide” in the Gaza Strip and emphasized the need to “safeguard the lives and well-being of the Portuguese detained by Israel.”
“The Portuguese government is far from doing what is required, urgent, and necessary to end the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people,” he told journalists during a CDU rally in Odivelas.
“We are facing a situation we naturally condemn. The government needs to utilize all its means and instruments to safeguard the lives and well-being of the Portuguese involved,” he highlighted.
However, Paulo Raimundo stressed that “the core issue is different” and questioned “how to end the ongoing genocide.”
He remarked, “A firmer stance would be to clearly condemn what is happening in Palestine. We can talk endlessly about this specific event—and we should—but we cannot forget the core issue. The boats were not heading to Palestine just because they wanted to go on a cruise.”
The PCP Secretary-General stated that Israel is conducting a “genocide in Gaza” with “the collusion of the United States and the complicity of the European Union.”
A flotilla, consisting of about 50 vessels, one of which was flying the Portuguese flag, departed from Spain intending to break the Israeli blockade and deliver supplies to the Gaza Strip. The Israeli government alleged that the initiative was supported by the Palestinian extremist group Hamas and detained the crew members.
Besides BE coordinator Mariana Mortágua, actress Sofia Aparício, and activist Miguel Duarte, whose participation in this initiative was known, a fourth Portuguese national, Diogo Chaves, was also detained by Israel while on the flotilla, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced today.
According to the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the crews were taken to the port of Ashdod and held in specific detention centers, where they can either accept immediate voluntary expulsion or refuse it and await a judicial decision.
Israel launched a major ground offensive against the city of Gaza on September 16, claiming it was to eliminate the last ‘stronghold’ of the Palestinian extremist group.
The military invasion caused the forced displacement of more than one million people to the southern Gaza Strip and resulted in dozens of deaths daily in the city, many of them civilians, in a conflict that has already killed more than 66,000 Palestinians, including women and children, according to Hamas figures.
Portuguese diplomat Paulo Rangel commented on Israel’s interception of the humanitarian flotilla heading to Gaza a month ago. The minister also mentioned the possibility of “consular visits” as early as Friday.
Ana Teresa Banha | 14:22 – 02/10/2025
