“We need peace, we need peace in Russia, in Ukraine, we need peace in the Middle East, and that peace must be pursued, no matter the cost, and it must be pursued by telling terrorists that we will never accept their blackmail and pressure, and obviously, I think that should be a demand for everyone,” he stated.
“With terrorists, there are no words, we defeat them, break them, and end them. That’s how terrorists are dealt with, not with carnations, or poems, or conversation. When dealing with terrorists, we have to eliminate them, we have to go after them wherever they are and finish them,” he maintained.
André Ventura also considered that “there should be no agreement until the hostages are released.”
“We still have women kidnapped by Hamas, women who were violated, children who were violated. If the West accepts this calmly, we are doing a disservice to the future and democracy,” he emphasized.
The leader of Chega was speaking to journalists at the end of a visit to the Gondomar fair, in the Porto district, as part of the campaign for Sunday’s local elections.
Israel and Hamas announced a ceasefire agreement in Gaza on Wednesday night, marking the first phase of a peace plan proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump, following indirect negotiations mediated by Egypt, Qatar, the United States, and Turkey.
When asked if the Republican president could be a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize, André Ventura said he doesn’t think it is “deserved,” but noted that “during the Democrats’ administration, there was no peace agreement in Israel; instead, there was a war with no end in sight.”
“Regardless of being left or right-wing, I believe this means very little to the Portuguese. There is now a peace plan, apparently accepted even by the terrorist movement, which is already negotiating the hostages, and I think we should give this plan a chance; that is what truly matters to people,” he stated.
This stage of the truce involves the partial withdrawal of the Israeli army to the so-called “yellow line” demarcated by the United States, the boundary between Israel and Gaza, the release of 20 hostages held by Hamas, and 1,950 Palestinian prisoners.
The ceasefire aims to end two years of war in Gaza, initiated by attacks on Israel led by Hamas on October 7, 2023, which resulted in approximately 1,200 deaths and 251 hostages.
Israel’s retaliation has already caused over 67,000 deaths and about 170,000 injuries, mostly civilians, according to data from the Gaza Ministry of Health (managed by Hamas), considered credible by the UN.
