Brazilian President Lula da Silva compared IDF’s operations in Gaza Strip to ‘Holocaust’. Israel responded to President Silva’s remark and termed it ‘shameful’.

Tel Aviv: Amid the ongoing conflict between the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) and Hamas militants, Brazilian President Lula da Silva made remarks that offended Israel. On Sunday, Silva compared IDF’s operations in the Gaza Strip to the ‘Holocaust’ against the Palestinian people. Tel Aviv, responding to the Brazilian President’s comments, deemed it “shameful,” Times of Israel reported. President Lula asserted that Israel is committing ‘genocide’ against the people of Palestine in the conflicted Strip. He added that this could only be compared to “when Hitler decided to kill the Jews.”

“What’s happening in the Gaza Strip isn’t a war, it’s a genocide,” Lula told reporters in Addis Ababa, where he was attending an African Union summit. “It’s not a war of soldiers against soldiers. It’s a war between a highly prepared army and women and children.”

“What is happening in the Gaza Strip with the Palestinian people hasn’t happened at any other moment in history” except one: “When Hitler decided to kill the Jews,” Lula added.

Israel Responded To President Lula’s Remark

Israel responded with outrage and termed President Lula’s remark as “shameful”, stating that country’s ambassador would be summoned for a “stern reprimand.”

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu responded stringently and said the Brazilian leader had “crossed a red line.”

“The words of the President of Brazil are shameful and alarming,” Times of Israel quoted Netanyahu as saying in a statement.
“This is a trivialization of the Holocaust and an attempt to harm the Jewish people and Israel’s right to defend itself,” Netanyahu said. “Israel is fighting for its defence and securing its future until complete victory and it does so while upholding international law.”
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz called the comments “shameful and grave.”

“No one will harm Israel’s right to defend itself,” he said.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid said Lula’s comments “show ignorance and antisemitism” and that Israel was “broken-hearted and shocked by the massacre of its citizens” on October 7.

“I wonder what Lula would have said if a terrorist organization had harmed Brazil that way,” he added. “Shame.”
Israel’s announced a war against Hamas on October 7, following an unprecedented terror attack that killed as many as 1,200 people, and kidnapping over 250 people amid acts of brutality including sexual violence.

Israel has stated that civilian casualties are a repercussion of combatants operating from behind the cover of innocents. The country emphasizes its efforts to minimize the deaths of Gazan civilians, as reported by the Times of Israel.