ADDIS ABEBA (dpa-AFX) – Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has compared Israel’s military operation in the Gaza Strip to the mass murder of European Jews ordered by Adolf Hitler. Israel’s actions amount to a genocide of Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip, the 78-year-old said during an African Union summit at the weekend in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa. “What is happening to the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip has never happened at any other time in history. In fact, it already happened: when Hitler decided to kill the Jews,” Lula said during a press conference.
Brazil has been calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire between Israel and the Islamist Hamas for some time. In recent weeks, Lula has become increasingly critical of Israel.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry summoned the Brazilian ambassador in response to Lula da Silva’s comments. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the Brazilian president’s words as “disgraceful and serious.” “It is a downplaying of the significance of the Holocaust and an attempt to harm the Jewish people and Israel’s right to self-defense,” the politician said about the Prime Minister’s Office. The comparison crossed a red line.
The Gaza war was triggered by a terrorist attack and a massacre by Hamas and other extremists on October 7, 2023. Around 1,200 people were killed and around 250 were kidnapped from Israel. Israel blames Hamas for the victims and suffering of the civilian population in the Gaza Strip./le/DP/he