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Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called out Israel for committing \u201cgenocide\u201d against Palestinians in Gaza, comparing the monthslong military offensive in the territory with the Holocaust.<\/span><\/p>\n Speaking to reporters at the African Union summit in Ethiopia, the left-wing leader said on Sunday that the ongoing violence in Gaza by the Israeli military \u201cisn\u2019t a war, it\u2019s a genocide.\u201d The comments come a day after summit leaders condemned the bombardment and called for an immediate cease-fire.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not a war of soldiers against soldiers,\u201d Lula said. \u201cIt\u2019s a war between a highly prepared army, and women and children.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n In addition to decades of occupation, Israel launched an offensive on Gaza after Hamas militants attacked the country on Oct. 7 \u2014 killing about 1,200 and capturing hundreds, about 130 of whom are assumed to still be in Gaza. Lula called the assault by Hamas a \u201cterrorist\u201d act on Oct. 7 itself.<\/span><\/p>\n Israel\u2019s retaliation has killed almost 30,000 Gazans \u2014 mostly women and children, according to Palestinian authorities. The attack has also left many more civilians severely wounded and without limbs; starved families by blocking food and water; caused disease spread by blocking medical aid and bombing hospitals; destroyed schools and humanitarian shelters; disproportionately attacked Palestinian journalists; and displaced the millions who now crowd in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, which Israeli forces are preparing to invade.<\/span><\/p>\n Since Oct. 7, Lula\u2019s position on Israel\u2019s retaliation has become increasingly critical, and the leader has previously described the government\u2019s actions as genocide. The Brazilian president is a vocal supporter of South Africa\u2019s case accusing Israel of genocide<\/a> before the United Nations\u2019 International Court of Justice.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s happening in the Gaza Strip with the Palestinian people hasn\u2019t happened at any other moment in history,\u201d he said. \u201cActually, it did when Hitler decided to kill the Jews.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The remarks almost immediately triggered an angry response from Israel, a Jewish ethnostate that the West established on Palestinian land in the wake of the Holocaust. Despite currently facing accusations of Palestinian apartheid and genocide in the international courts, Israel and its allies fervently denounce any comparisons of their behavior with that of the Nazis, who killed 6 million European Jews during World War II.<\/span><\/p>\n Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Lula\u2019s comments were antisemitic and \u201cdisgraceful.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThis is a trivialization of the Holocaust and an attempt to attack the Jewish people and the right of Israel to self-defense,\u201d Netanyahu said.<\/a> \u201cDrawing comparisons between Israel and the Nazis and Hitler is to cross a red line.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said that he would summon Brazil\u2019s ambassador on Monday to reprimand the country over Lula\u2019s remarks. While Lula has accused Israel of genocide before, Sunday marks the first time the leader compared the country\u2019s behavior with that of the Holocaust.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cNo one will compromise Israel\u2019s right to defend itself,\u201d Katz tweeted<\/a>, calling Lula\u2019s comments \u201cshameful and serious.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The Brazilian leader has also criticized Western countries\u2019 decisions to stop funding the UNRWA \u2014 a U.N. agency that focuses on helping Palestinian refugees \u2014 after Israel accused some of the agency\u2019s employees of being involved in the Hamas attack.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAt the moment when the Palestinian people most need support, the rich countries decided to cut humanitarian aid to the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees,\u201d he said last week while announcing that Brazil will increase its funding for UNRWA<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cHuman and material losses are irreparable. We cannot trivialize the deaths of thousands of civilians as mere collateral damage,\u201d he continued, according to Brasil247<\/a>. \u201cBefore our eyes, the population of Gaza suffers from hunger, thirst, disease and other types of deprivation, as the World Health Organization warns.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n