Israel incensed after Brazilian President Lula da Silva likens Gaza war to Holocaust

'It’s not a war between soldiers and soldiers, it’s a war between a highly prepared army and women and children,' President Lula da Silva said above, during a visit to Cairo. Photo: Mohamed Abdel-Ghany/Reuters

Dan Williams and Marcela Ayers

Israel accused Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of trivialising the Holocaust and causing offence to the Jewish people yesterday after he likened the Israeli war against Hamas to the Nazi genocide during World War II.

“What is happening in the Gaza Strip with the Palestinian people has no parallel in other historical moments. In fact, it did exist when Hitler decided to kill the Jews,” Mr Lula da Silva told reporters during the 37th African Union Summit in Addis Ababa.