Israel summons Brazilian envoy over President Lula's comments on Gaza at AU summit

This follows Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's accusation of Israel committing "genocide" against Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip and likening its actions to Adolf Hitler's campaign to exterminate the Jews.

Lula told reporters in Addis Ababa on Saturday, where he was attending the African Union summit, that what was happening in Gaza "isn't a war, it's a genocide".

"It is not a war of soldiers against soldiers. It is a war between a highly prepared army and women and children," added the leftist South American leader.

"What's happening in the Gaza Strip with the Palestinian people hasn't happened at any other moment in history. Actually, it has happened: when Hitler decided to kill the Jews."

Lula, a prominent advocate for the Global South whose country currently holds the rotating presidency of the G20, drew criticism from the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who called the 78-year-old's comments "shameful and serious".

The Israeli government summoned Brazil's envoy in protest.

The Premier called Lula's remarks a "Holocaust trivialisation and an attempt to harm the Jewish people and the right of Israel to defend itself."

"Comparing Israel to the Nazi Holocaust and Hitler is crossing a red line. Israel fights for its defence and securing its future until complete victory and it does so while upholding international law," Netanyahu said in an X post on Sunday.

"I have decided with the Foreign Minister to summon the Brazilian ambassador in Israel for an immediate reproach."

Israel's offensive condemned

African political leaders in Addis Ababa on Saturday condemned Israel's offensive in Gaza and called for an immediate end.

Moussa Faki, the African Union Commission chair, said Israel's offensive was the "most flagrant" violation of international humanitarian law and accused Israel of having "exterminated" Gaza's inhabitants.

Azalli Assoumani, Comorian leader and former chairperson of the African Union, praised the case by Pretoria against Israel at the global court while condemning "the genocide Israel is committing in Palestine under our nose."

"The international community cannot close its eyes to the atrocities that are committed, that have not only created chaos in Palestine but also have disastrous consequences in the rest of the world," Assoumani said.