Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Sunday accused Israel of committing “genocide” against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, comparing the Israeli offensive to the extermination of the Jews by the Nazis, AFP reported.

Luis Inacio Lula da SilvaPhoto: EVARISTO SA / AFP / Profimedia

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reacted strongly, condemning the “shameful and serious” remarks and summoning Brazil’s ambassador to Israel on Monday, while his Defense Minister Yoav Gallant accused Brazil of “supporting” Hamas.

“What is happening in Gaza is not a war, but a genocide,” Lula told media from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where he was attending an African Union summit. “This is not a war of soldiers against soldiers. This is a war between a very well-trained army and women and children.”

“What is happening in Gaza to the Palestinian people has never happened in history. In fact, it already happened: when Hitler decided to kill the Jews,” he attacked the Brazilian leader, a veteran of the left.

These were some of the harshest statements from Lula, a prominent South American whose country currently chairs the G20, about the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.

“The comments made by the Brazilian president are disgraceful and serious” and “I have decided, together with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Israel Katz, to immediately summon the Brazilian ambassador to Israel to announce a severe reprimand,” was the reaction of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin. Netanyahu in the afternoon. Katz told X that the Brazilian ambassador would be summoned on Monday.

“This is about trivializing the Shoah and trying to undermine the Jewish people and Israel’s right to defense. Comparing Israel to the Nazi Holocaust and Hitler is crossing a red line,” Netanyahu added in a statement.

“Israel is fighting for its defense and for securing its future until complete victory, and it is doing so in accordance with international law,” he concluded.

“Brazil has been on the side of Hamas for years. President Lula supports a genocidal terrorist organization (…) and thereby disgraces his people and violates the values ​​of the free world,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on X.