COLOGNE, Germany

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg has denounced Israel’s attacks in the Gaza Strip as a “genocide.”

Speaking at a protest in the city of Leipzig, Germany on Wednesday, in a surprise appearance, Thunberg said no one should stay silent “in the face of genocide.”

“We cannot remain silent. No one can remain silent when there is an ongoing genocide and when people are denied the most basic human needs,” said Thunberg, 21.

"We must always stand up and speak up against oppression, imperialism, war, all forms of discrimination and racism. To stand with Palestine is to be human. We cannot allow ourselves to be silenced," she said.

Thunberg, best known for pressing governments to take action against climate change, had previously spoken up in support for Palestine during three-plus months of relentless Israeli attacks on Gaza and faced criticism from some in Germany.

Israel launched a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip in the wake of an Oct. 7 attack by Palestinian group Hamas, so far killing at least 25,700 Palestinians and injuring 63,740 others. Nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.

The Israeli war has left 85% of Gaza’s population internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while more than half of the enclave’s infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

*Writing by Zeynep Cetin in Istanbul