Brazil

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Friday (February 23) Israel is committing a “genocide” in the middle of a diplomatic rift caused by his remarks comparing the war in Gaza with the Nazi genocide during World War Two.

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Lula made the comments at a state-run oil company Petrobras event in Rio on Friday where he said he supports the creation of a Palestinian state.

Also read: Israel-Hamas war: Over 100 ‘killed’ in overnight strikes on residences in Gaza

The president's remarks last Sunday (February 18) comparing the war in Gaza to Hitler’s treatment of Jews led Israel to say he was not welcome there until he took back the comments.

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The diplomatic spat entered a third day on Tuesday (February 20), with Brazil's foreign minister calling Israel's response to comments made by Lula da Silva on the Gaza Strip "unacceptable" and "untruthful."

On Saturday (Feb 24), a building was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Rafah, southern Gaza, which killed 8 Palestinians.

Also read: Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu proposes first official post-war Gaza plan

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Gaza health officials said eight Palestinians were killed and several others were wounded in an Israeli air strike on a house in Rafah where over half of the territory’s 2.3 million people were sheltering.

"They say it is a safe area but we have people being killed each day, we have daily shelling, where is the safe area, it is just words, it is all nonsense, there is no safe place in all of the Gaza strip," said Rafah resident Khaled Ghareez, who went on to claim that the bodies recovered were mostly of women and children.

The Gaza health ministry claimed said ahead of this strike, that 92 people were killed and 123 injured in the last 24 hours.

Watch: Israel-Palestine war: 100,000 Indians to work in Israel; govt to hire Indian workforce?

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The Israeli military meanwhile asserted that it had killed dozens of militants and seized weapons across Gaza since Thursday (February 22).

Close to 30,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza since Oct.7, alleges the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry on Friday (February 23).

Israel launched its months-long military campaign after militants from Hamas-ruled Gaza killed 1,200 people and took 253 hostages in southern Israel on Oct 7.

(With inputs from agencies)