Brazil’s Lula: Israel committing genocide in Gaza, same as Holocaust

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva says Israel is committing “genocide” against Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip, saying it is the same as the Holocaust.

“What’s happening in the Gaza Strip isn’t a war, it’s a genocide,” Lula tells reporters in Addis Ababa where he is attending an African Union summit.

“It’s not a war of soldiers against soldiers. It’s a war between a highly prepared army and women and children,” added the veteran leftist.

“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,” he adds.

Lula also says nobody should assume Russian President Vladimir Putin had anything to do with the death of prominent Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, after he died of “sudden death syndrome.”

“A citizen died in prison. I don’t know if he was ill or had any issues,” Lula says. “To make an accusation is to trivialize. I hope that a coroner will provide an explanation for why the individual died, that’s all.”