Key Points
- Lula told reporters that what was happening in the Gaza Strip "isn't a war, it's a genocide".
- Netanyahu called Lula's remarks "Holocaust trivialisation and an attempt to harm the Jewish people and the right of Israel to defend itself".
- Israel's assault on Gaza has killed at least 28,858 people, according to the territory's health ministry.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has accused Israel of committing "genocide" against Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip and compared its actions to Adolf Hitler's campaign to exterminate Jews during World War Two.
Lula told reporters in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, where he was attending an African Union summit, that what is 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," 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."
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu labelled Lula's comments "disgraceful and grave".
"This is a trivialisation of the Holocaust and an attempt to attack the Jewish people and the right of Israel to self-defence. Drawing comparisons between Israel and the Nazis and Hitler is to cross a red line," Netanyahu said in a statement.
"Israel is fighting to defend itself and ensure its future until total victory and it is doing that while upholding international law."
Brazil has recalled its ambassador to Israel and Israel's foreign minister has said Lula is not welcome there until he takes back his comments.
The term genocide has been used by the United Nations and across social media, but how do official bodies determine what is — and isn't — genocide?
What constitutes genocide under international law?
In 1946, the United Nations General Assembly declared genocide a crime under international law.
Article Two of the Convention specifies it as "".
These acts include killing members of the group, causing bodily or mental harm, deliberately inflicting conditions that bring about destruction or prevent births and the forceful transfer of children.
Member states, which include Israel, have an obligation to enforce the convention by not committing the acts, but also recognising genocide and punishing the actor.
Sarah Williams, a professor of international law at the University of New South Wales, said what gets investigated is the dolus specialis — or "specific intent" — of the acts towards a group of a particular race, nationality, ethnicity or religious group.
"You have to both intend to do what you're doing, and also intend to do it because it's going to allow you to destroy a group," she told SBS News.
"So if you're doing any of those actions for other reasons, then it wouldn't be genocide.
"It's a very hard crime to actually establish because you need that particular intent."
She said historically, states were reluctant to declare genocide, which would force them to collectively take action to prosecute and punish it.
How does prosecution work?
Juliette McIntyre, lecturer of law at the University of South Australia, said allegations and evidence of genocide have to be put before a court for examination.
Multiple sources can be used to prove a crime, including statements from public officials, information from non-government organisations, social media posts, information from other states and reports from refugees or people who fled the conflict.
McIntyre said there were three main options for prosecution:
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) can be used by a member state of the UN Genocide Convention to bring a prosecution against another member.
In 2019, Gambia brought forward an ICJ case against Myanmar alleging genocide against Rohingya people. It used public statements of officials, social media posts and witness statements as part of its evidence. Other countries, including Canada, France and the UK joined the case against Myanmar last year. The case is still being heard.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) is more like a "domestic criminal proceeding, where you are prosecuting an individual for the crime of genocide", McIntyre said.
The prosecutor opens a case where they look at specific crimes by a high-ranking military official or a government official for their role in the commission of genocide.
However, the ICC does not hold trials in absentia (where the accused is not before the court), and it is often difficult to arrest and bring people in for trial.
Karim Khan has served as Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) since 2021. Source: AAP / Mauricio Duenas Castaneda/EPA
Khan told reporters that Israel needed to make "discernible efforts" to ensure civilians in Gaza have access to basic needs to avoid "criminal responsibility".
"There should not be any impediment to humanitarian relief supplies going to children, to women and men, civilians," Khan said.
Finally, the UN Security Council could issue a resolution around concerns of genocide and authorise the use of force by other states to go in and prevent more violence.
"But that's not going to happen because of the United States veto," McIntyre said.
"The US won't allow anything to go through that relates to Israel. So that's a bit of a non-starter, but it does exist there in the kind of enforcement space for international law."
What has Israel said about the war on Hamas?
Israel has bombarded Gaza since Hamas' 7 October attack in which more than 1,200 people, including an estimated 30 children, were killed and over 200 hostages taken, according to the Israeli government. More than 29,000 people have been killed in Gaza since 7 October, according to the health ministry in Gaza.
The 7 October attack was a significant escalation in the long-standing conflict between Israel and Hamas.
From the outset, Netanyahu has described the war as a retaliation for the deadliest day of violence in Israel for 50 years, vowing he would take "mighty vengeance".
Netanyahu detailed Israel's objectives for the current mission:
"We are in the middle of a war for our existence. We have set two goals for the war: to annihilate Hamas by destroying its military and governance abilities and to do everything possible to bring our hostages back home."
- With additional reporting from Reuters and AAP
