GAZA CITY, Palestine

Palestinian resistance group Hamas hailed Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva for describing the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip as a “genocide.”

Da Silva on Sunday accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza and comparing its war on the Palestinian enclave to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler's Holocaust against Jews.

“This statement is an accurate description of what our people are exposed to and it reveals the enormity of the Israeli crime that is being committed with a US cover and open support,” Hamas said in a statement.

Hamas urged the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to take into account the Brazilian president’s comments “regarding the violations and atrocities against the Palestinian people…that have never been seen in modern history."

Speaking to reporters in Addis Ababa, where he was attending an African Union summit, Da Silva said Sunday that “what’s happening in the Gaza Strip isn’t a war, it’s a genocide.”

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

“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 remarked.

Israeli officials denounced the Brazilian leader’s statements, with the Foreign Ministry announcing that it would summon the South American country's envoy for an official protest on 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 on Gaza has pushed 85% of the territory'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 ICJ, which issued an interim ruling in January ordering Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala