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Brazilian President Lula da Silva: “When Hitler decided to kill the Jews”
Photo: Minasse Wondu Hailu / EPA
The Israeli army has been fighting in the Gaza Strip for more than four months, and a new ground offensive in the south of the coastal section is imminent. Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has now compared the military operation to the mass murder of European Jews ordered by Adolf Hitler. Israel's actions amount to a genocide of Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip, the 78-year-old said during an African Union summit at the weekend in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa.
»What is happening to the Palestinian people in Gaza has never happened at any other time in history. In fact, it already happened: when Hitler decided to kill the Jews," Lula said during a press conference. Brazil has been calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire between Israel and the Islamist Hamas for some time. In recent weeks, Lula has become increasingly critical of Israel.
“Disgraceful and serious”
The statements were greeted with horror in Israel and the Foreign Ministry summoned the Brazilian ambassador. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the Brazilian president's words as "shameful and serious." "It is a downplaying of the significance of the Holocaust and an attempt to harm the Jewish people and Israel's right to self-defense," said the politician.
The Gaza war was triggered by the unprecedented massacre carried out by terrorists from Hamas and other extremist groups on October 7th in Israel near the border with Gaza. On the Israeli side, more than 1,200 people were killed and another 250 hostages were taken to the Gaza Strip. Israel responded with massive air strikes and a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip. According to the Hamas-controlled health authority, almost 29,000 Palestinians died and 68,880 others were injured.
Israel's military continued its operations over the weekend. The army took control of Nasser Hospital, one of the larger hospitals in the coastal area. According to employees, the hospital is no longer functional. The army announced on Sunday evening that hundreds of terrorists and terror suspects who were hiding in the clinic had been captured. Some of them are said to have posed as medical staff.
Israeli soldiers also killed three Palestinians in the occupied West Bank on Sunday. Two men, including a fighter from a militant group, were killed during an army operation in the Tulkarem refugee settlement. The third Palestinian was shot dead at a checkpoint near the city of Nablus.
"This shows that Hamas has lost its fighting spirit"
The Palestinian Ministry of Health said two men, aged 19 and 36, suffered fatal gunshot wounds during the army operation in the Tulkarem refugee settlement. According to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the elderly man was a local commander of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah armed wing.
Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant now sees the Islamists' fighting spirit broken. "200 terrorists surrendered in Nasser Hospital, dozens more in Amal Hospital," Galant said on Sunday at a meeting with army commanders. "This shows that Hamas has lost its fighting spirit." The information could not initially be independently verified.
In addition, the Hamas leadership under Gaza chief Jihia al-Sinwar, who went into hiding out of fear of the Israeli security forces, lost contact with the outside world in their hiding places. "The Gaza branch of Hamas is not responding," Galant said. "There is no one left locally to talk to." The Hamas leadership abroad is already looking for a replacement for Al-Sinwar. The militia only has organized forces in the central Gaza Strip and in Rafah, the southern border town with Egypt.
mrc/dpa