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RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) \u2014 Brazil\u2019s President Luiz In\u00e1cio Lula da Silva withdrew his ambassador to Israel on Wednesday after months of tensions between the two countries over the war in Gaza.<\/p>\n
The move was announced in Brazil\u2019s official gazette. There was no immediate response from Israel.<\/p>\n
Lula has been a frequent critic of Israel\u2019s offensive in Gaza<\/a>, which he compared to the Holocaust earlier this year. That led Israel\u2019s Foreign Minister Israel Katz to summon the Brazilian ambassador to the national Holocaust museum in Jerusalem for a public reprimand.<\/p>\n The removal of Brazil\u2019s Ambassador Frederico Meyer comes in response to that humiliating action by the Israeli top diplomat, according to a person at Brazil\u2019s foreign ministry with knowledge of the situation. The person spoke on condition of anonymity as he wasn\u2019t authorized to speak publicly.<\/p>\n Meyer has been transferred to Geneva and will join Brazil’s permanent mission to the United Nations and other international organizations.<\/p>\n The latest war in Gaza, now in its eighth month, began when the Palestinian militant Hamas group burst into southern Israel in a surprise attack on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 civilians and taking around 250 hostage.<\/p>\n Israel\u2019s offensive in response to that attack has killed at least 36,096 Palestinians, according to Gaza\u2019s Health Ministry<\/a>, which does not distinguish between fighters and civilians in its count. Israel says it has killed 13,000 militants.<\/p>\n In February, Brazil’s Lula said that \u201cwhat is happening in the Gaza Strip and to the Palestinian people hasn\u2019t been seen in any other moment in history. Actually, it did when Hitler decided to kill the Jews.\u201d<\/p>\n Israel says its war in Gaza is a defensive action triggered by Hamas’ unprecedented assault and rejects any comparisons of its offensive to the Holocaust.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n