Lula Condemns Israeli Actions

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva insisted that Israel commits "genocide" against Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip, after comparing the actions of the Jewish State to the Holocaust.

"What the government of the State of Israel is doing is not a war, it is genocide, because it is killing women and children," Lula said at an event in Rio de Janeiro.

These are the first comments from the president, at the annual summit of the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, he sparked a controversy by accusing Israel of "genocide" and compared the Israeli military campaign in Gaza with "when "Hitler decided to kill the Jews."

After these statements, Israel declared Lula "persona non grata" and demanded an apology from him.

The leftist leader did not apologize and, this time without referring to the Holocaust, he again attacked the Jewish State: "It is a genocide, thousands of children are dead and thousands are missing. Soldiers are not dying, women and children are dying in the hospital." "If that's not genocide, I don't know what genocide is," he exclaimed.

"I do not exchange my dignity for falsehood," said Lula, who once again spoke in favor of the creation of a "free and sovereign" Palestinian State.

Previously, Foreign Minister Israel Katz had published a message on the social network.

Katz had despised the leftist president's statements, describing them as "spitting in the face of Brazilian Jews."

The recent hostilities began on October 7, when Islamist commandos killed 1,160 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapped about 250 in southern Israel.

Lula, 78 years old and an important representative of the countries of the global south, criticized on several occasions Israel's "disproportionate" reaction.