Priyanka Gandhi accuses Israel of committing ‘genocide’ in Palestine, draws ire from envoy Reuven Azar

In a sharp reaction to MP and senior Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi's remarks accusing Israel of committing "genocide" in Palestine, Israeli Ambassador to India, Reuven Azar, on Tuesday urged the Wayanad MP: “don’t buy Hamas numbers”.

Gandhi had earlier hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP government for staying silent as Israel “unleashed…devastation on the people of Palestine”.

Reacting strongly to Gandhi's post, Azar in a post on X said, "What is shameful is your deceit. Israel killed 25,000 Hamas terrorists. The terrible cost in human lives derives from Hamas’ heinous tactics of hiding behind civilians, their shooting of people trying to evacuate or receive assistance and their rocket fire."

He added, "Israel facilitated two million tonnes of food into Gaza while Hamas tries to sequestrate them, thereby creating hunger. Gaza population has grown 450 per cent in the last 50 years, no genocide there. Don’t buy Hamas numbers."

Congress has been maintaining caution on the Palestine issue, primarily due to the fact that BJP is projecting it against the grand old party in the country. However, Priyanka Gandhi has been repeatedly expressing solidarity with Palestine, while terming Israel's attacks on it as "genocidal".

In a post on X, Gandhi said Israel is committing genocide and has murdered over 60,000 people, 18,430 of whom were children.

“It has starved hundreds to death, including many children and is threatening to starve millions. Enabling these crimes by silence and inaction is a crime in itself,” she said.

In a sharp attack on Modi-led government, Gandhi said it is “shameful that the Indian Government stands silent as Israel unleashes this devastation on the people of Palestine”.

This is not the first time that Gandhi has expressed solidarity with Palestine. Last year in December, she was seen carrying a bag with ‘Palestine’ written on it to Parliament. The bag also had Palestinian emblems, including a watermelon, seen as a symbol of Palestinian solidarity. Her gesture had generated a sharp reaction from the BJP.

In June last year, Gandhi attacked Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over what she had termed were the Israeli government’s “genocidal actions” in Gaza, as she accused him and his government of “barbarism”. She had also criticised the government for abstaining from voting on a resolution on the Israel-Hamas conflict at the UNGA in October last year.