Brazilian President Lula compares Gaza action to 'Holocaust', leaving Israel furious
Brazilian President Lula accuses Israel of 'genocide' in Gaza, Netanyahu responds
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Sunday (Feb 18) accused Israel of committing "genocide" against Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.
He further drew a comparison between Israeli military actions and Adolf Hitler's campaign to exterminate the Jewish people.
Lula, while attending an African Union summit, told reporters that what was happening in the Gaza Strip "isn't a war, it's a genocide".
"It's not a war of soldiers against soldiers. It's a war between a highly prepared army and women and children," added the veteran leftist.
"What's happening in the Gaza Strip with the Palestinian people hasn't happened at any other moment in history. Actually, it has happened: when Hitler decided to kill the Jews."
Netanyahu calls Lula's comments 'shameful and grave'
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Deeming Lula's remarks as "shameful and grave", Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that his government had called in Brazil's ambassador in protest.
Netanyahu released a statement saying that the Brazilian President's comments were "Holocaust trivialisation and an attempt to harm the Jewish people and the right of Israel to defend itself".
"The comparison between Israel to the Holocaust of the Nazis and Hitler is crossing a red line," he said in a statement.
"Israel is fighting to defend itself and ensure its future until total victory and it is doing that while upholding international law."
"I have decided with Foreign Minister (Israel) Katz to summon the Brazilian ambassador in Israel for an immediate reproach."
Katz took to his official X account and said that the meeting would take place on Monday (Feb 19).
Israeli President Isaac Herzog also lashed out at "leaders who atrociously accuse the nation-state of the Jewish people of the evil of Hitler's deeds", without specifically identifying his Brazilian counterpart.
To do so was an "immoral distortion of history", he added.
Meanwhile, Israel's Defence Minister Yoav Gallant dubbed Lula's comments "outrageous and abhorrent". "Brazil has stood with Israel for years," he wrote on X.
"President Lula supports a genocidal terrorist organisation -- Hamas, and in doing so brings great shame to his people, and violates the values of the free world."
On the other hand, Palestinian militant group Hamas hailed the Brazilian President's remarks, calling them "an accurate description" of what people were facing in the Gaza Strip.
(With inputs from agencies)