Israel Incensed after Brazil’s Lula Likens Gaza War to Holocaust

This handout picture released by the Brazilian Presidency shows Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva speaking during the opening ceremony of the 37th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union (AU) at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa on February 17, 2024. (Brazilian Presidency / AFP)
This handout picture released by the Brazilian Presidency shows Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva speaking during the opening ceremony of the 37th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union (AU) at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa on February 17, 2024. (Brazilian Presidency / AFP)
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Israel Incensed after Brazil’s Lula Likens Gaza War to Holocaust

This handout picture released by the Brazilian Presidency shows Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva speaking during the opening ceremony of the 37th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union (AU) at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa on February 17, 2024. (Brazilian Presidency / AFP)
This handout picture released by the Brazilian Presidency shows Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva speaking during the opening ceremony of the 37th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union (AU) at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa on February 17, 2024. (Brazilian Presidency / AFP)

Israel accused Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of trivializing the Holocaust and causing offence to the Jewish people on Sunday after he likened the Israeli war against Hamas militants in Gaza to the Nazi genocide during World War Two.

"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," Lula told reporters during the 37th African Union Summit in Addis Ababa.

The Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem said it would summon the Brazilian ambassador for a reprimand over the remarks, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described as "disgraceful and grave".

"This is a trivialization of the Holocaust and an attempt to attack the Jewish people and the right of Israel to self-defense. Drawing comparisons between Israel and the Nazis and Hitler is to cross a red line," Netanyahu said in a statement.

Brazil's presidential palace and the foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In a statement, the Brazilian Israelite Confederation said Lula's remarks were a "perverse distortion of reality" and "offend the memory of Holocaust victims and their descendants" and accused his government of an "extreme and unbalanced" stance on the conflict.

Earlier on Sunday, Lula also condemned the suspension of humanitarian aid to the UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA), urging an investigation into errors without cutting off funding to help those affected by what he called a "genocide."

"It's not a war between soldiers and soldiers, it's a war between a highly prepared army and women and children," he said.

UNRWA is facing a financial strain following Israel's assertion that 12 out of its 13,000 staff members in Gaza were implicated in Hamas's Oct. 7 attack on Israel.



Major Search Continues after Deadly Migrant Boat Sinking Off Cyprus Coast

Handout obtained from Cypriot government’s Joint Rescue Coordination Centre shows migrant boat in Mediterranen waters east of Cape Greco in southeastern Cyprus ahead of a rescue operation. (File/AFP)
Handout obtained from Cypriot government’s Joint Rescue Coordination Centre shows migrant boat in Mediterranen waters east of Cape Greco in southeastern Cyprus ahead of a rescue operation. (File/AFP)
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Major Search Continues after Deadly Migrant Boat Sinking Off Cyprus Coast

Handout obtained from Cypriot government’s Joint Rescue Coordination Centre shows migrant boat in Mediterranen waters east of Cape Greco in southeastern Cyprus ahead of a rescue operation. (File/AFP)
Handout obtained from Cypriot government’s Joint Rescue Coordination Centre shows migrant boat in Mediterranen waters east of Cape Greco in southeastern Cyprus ahead of a rescue operation. (File/AFP)

A major rescue operation continued Tuesday off the southern coast of Cyprus after a migrant boat sank in international waters, with no additional survivors or bodies found since the initial recovery, official said.

Authorities Monday said seven bodies had been recovered and two people rescued some 45 kilometers (28 miles) south of Cyprus. Officials said the boat was believed to be carrying at least 20 Syrians, The Associated Press reported.

The island republic's Joint Rescue Coordination Center confirmed an ongoing operation involving military helicopters, rescue vessels and drones, assisted by a helicopter from a British base on Cyprus.

“As time passes and no other people are found, hope naturally and dramatically diminishes,” Defense Minister Vasilis Palmas told a press briefing late Monday.

The rescue effort is taking place amid rising irregular border crossings in the eastern Mediterranean, according to the European Union border protection agency Frontex, despite a broader decline across the bloc.

Cypriot officials said they continue to monitor increased maritime movement from Lebanon and Syria amid ongoing regional instability.

Justice Minister Marios Hartsiotis said the first survivor had been spotted during a routine patrol. After that, he said, “the response was immediate, which is why we managed to save the second person very quickly.”