The Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has called for an end to “the insanity of war” as it emerged that more than a dozen Latin Americans were killed during Hamas’s assault, with citizens of Brazil and Argentina taken captive in the Gaza Strip.
By Wednesday morning, Latin American government and media reports had confirmed the deaths of seven Argentinians, two Brazilians, two Peruvians, one Colombian and one Paraguayan. At least 15 Argentinians, three Peruvians, two Mexicans and one Brazilian remain missing.
On Tuesday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Jonathan Conricus said dozens of hostages had been abducted by Hamas fighters including dual-national citizens from Brazil and Argentina and people from “many other countries”.
“So this isn’t an Israeli challenge only,” Conricus added.
Jewish people have been migrating to Latin America and the Caribbean ever since European explorers began traveling to the region in the 15th century. Tens of thousands arrived in the 1930s and 40s, fleeing Nazi persecution in Europe.
Today, Latin America boasts several large Jewish communities, the biggest of which is in Argentina, home to an estimated 180,000 Jews. About 92,000 live in Brazil and 40,000 in Mexico.
In recent years thousands of Latin American Jews have chosen to “make aliyah” – meaning to return from the diaspora to live in Israel – often seeking better economic opportunities or to escape the urban violence that plagues many countries in the Americas.
Many of the Latin American victims had done just that, including the two Brazilians so far confirmed dead.
Ranani Glazer and Bruna Valeanu, both 24, were killed at the Supernova music festival after it was attacked at dawn on Saturday. Glazer was from south Brazil but moved to Israel where he served in the IDF and dreamed of becoming a DJ. Valeanu was from Rio de Janeiro but reportedly moved to Israel last year to study at university.
“Bruna came to try and find different opportunities, a different quality of life, a safer life,” her teacher, Fabio Erlich, told the news website UOL. “Apart from the moments of war, life in Israel is very safe.”
On Wednesday, a 26-year-old Colombian woman named as Ivonne Rubio was also reported to have been killed at the same rave, around three miles from the Gaza border. The Colombian newspaper El Tiempo said Rubio, who lived in Kfar Saba, a city in central Israel, called her father early on Saturday to plead for help. “Daddy, we’re at war. I’m running to a bunker,” she said before disappearing, according to El País.
The Peruvian victims have been named as Brandon David Flores García, a 21-year-old IDF soldier who was killed in combat, and Daniel Levi Ludmir, a doctor who was reportedly killed while treating the wounded.
“We will never forget you,” his cousin, Steve Levi, tweeted.
Flores had moved to the Israeli city of Ramle, which is reportedly home to a large Israeli-Peruvian community made up of people from the Amazon cities of Iquitos and Pucallpa, in 2017.
Latin American citizens have also been affected by Israel’s military response in the Gaza Strip. At least 26 Brazilians have reportedly asked Brazil’s foreign ministry to help them escape the Israeli bombardment of Gaza by evacuating them to Egypt. Argentina, Brazil and Mexico have all sent planes to evacuate their citizens from Israel while Colombia has said it will do so.
On Wednesday Brazil’s president Lula urged the international community to launch an urgent humanitarian intervention to protect Israeli and Palestinian children from “the insanity of war”.
“Hamas must release the Israeli children who have been abducted from their families. Israel must stop the bombing so Palestinian children and their mothers can leave the Gaza Strip through the border with Egypt,” Lula tweeted.
