According to Katz, in the morning he called the Brazilian ambassador and told him that the comparisons made by the president were an “anti-Semitic attack.” The minister claims that Israel is waging a “just war against Hamas.”
“On my own behalf and on behalf of the citizens of Israel, I informed President Lula that he is an undesirable person in Israel until he apologizes and retracts his words,” the foreign minister said.
During a trip to Ethiopia, the President of Brazil assessed the actions of the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip. In particular, he said: “What is happening now in the Gaza Strip with the Palestinian people did not happen in other periods of history, or rather, it happened when Hitler decided to exterminate the Jews.”
On February 18, the Palestinian enclave's Ministry of Health announced that the death toll from Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip had reached 28,985.
On January 26, ICJ President Joan Donoghue said Israel has an obligation to take immediate action to prevent genocide in the Gaza Strip.