Brazil's 'disgraceful' president downplays Holocaust, Israel says

Lula said the conflict in Gaza is “not a war of soldiers against soldiers.” Photo: RICARDO STACKERT/Brazilian Presidency/AFP/Getty < p>Israel on Sunday accused Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Brazil's president, of «trivializing» the Holocaust and insulting the Jewish people after he compared the war against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip with Nazi genocide during World War II.< /p>

Lula told reporters in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, where he was attending an African Union summit, that what is happening in the Gaza Strip “is not a war, it is genocide.”

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“This is not a war of soldiers against soldiers. This is a war between a well-trained army, women and children,” added the veteran leftist.

“What is happening in the Gaza Strip to the Palestinian people has not happened at any other point in history. This is what actually happened: when Hitler decided to kill the Jews.»

In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called his 78-year-old colleague's comments «shameful and serious» and said his government had called in protest. Ambassador of Brazil.

Binyamin Netanyahu called Lula’s remarks “an attempt to harm the Jewish people and Israel’s right to self-defense.” Photo: Mark Israel Sellem/JINI/Xinhua News Agency/eevine

Lula, a prominent voice in the global South whose country holds the G20 presidency, condemned Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel as a «terrorist» act.

But he has since become critical of Israel's military campaign.

p> Israel's attack on the Gaza Strip has killed at least 28,858 people, according to the Hamas-controlled territory's health ministry. Photo: IDF/REUTERS

Mr Netanyahu, 74, called Lula's remarks «a trivialization of the Holocaust and an attempt to harm the Jewish people and Israel's right to self-defense.»

«Comparing Israel to the Nazi Holocaust and Hitler is crossing a red line,” he said.

“Israel is fighting to protect itself and secure its future until total victory, and it does so while respecting international law.

“I have decided, together with [Israeli] Foreign Minister Katz, to summon the Brazilian Ambassador to Israel for an immediate rebuke.”

Mr. Katz wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the meeting would take place on Monday.

Mr. Katz wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the meeting would take place on Monday.

Mr. p>

The Hamas attack in the city killed about 1,160 people. Israel, mostly civilians, according to Israeli officials' tallies published by AFP.

Palestinians find the body of a young girl among the rubble of a house destroyed after an Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza. Photo: MOHAMMED SABER/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

The militants also took about 250 people hostage, 130 of whom are still in Gaza, including 30 believed to be dead, according to Israeli data.

The Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip has killed at least 28,858 people, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-controlled territory's health ministry.

Lula criticized recent decisions by Western countries to cut off aid to the UN agency Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, after Israel accused some of its staff of involvement in the October 7 attack.

Lula, who met Mohammad Shtayyeh, the Palestinian prime minister, speaking at the summit on Saturday, said that Brazil will increase its contribution to the agency, and called on other countries to do the same.

He repeated his call for a two-state solution to the conflict, with Palestine «finally recognized as a full and sovereign state.»