US says disagrees with Brazilian president who compared Gaza war to Holocaust

WASHINGTON

The US said Tuesday it disagrees with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva who compared the Israeli war against the Gaza Strip to Adolf Hitler's Holocaust against Jews.

"Obviously we disagree with those comments," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters. "We have been quite clear that we do not believe that genocide has occurred in Gaza."

Israeli officials denounced the da Silva’s statements, with the Foreign Ministry announcing that it would summon the South American country's envoy to file an official protest Monday.

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 Hamas attack. The ensuing Israeli attacks have killed nearly 29,000 and caused mass destruction and shortages of necessities, while less than 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza's population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel is accused of genocide at the Hague-based International Court of Justice, which issued an interim ruling in January that orderer Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.