Israeli Ambassador to India, Reuven Azar, reacted harshly on Tuesday to Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's application of the word "genocide" to Israel, saying, "What is shameful is your deceit."
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had on Monday blamed Israel for staging a "genocide" and criticized the Indian government for being "silent" while Israel allegedly brings mass devastation upon the Palestinian people.
The general secretary of Congress asserted that the Israeli state has murdered more than 60,000 individuals, including 18,430 children. She went on to assert that Israel has starved hundreds to death, most being children, and is now threatening to starve millions more, as per her X post.
Azar responded with condemnation of these allegations, stating, "What is shameful is your deceit. Israel killed 25,000 Hamas terrorists. The horrible cost in human lives stems from Hamas's odious practices of shooting behind civilians, their killing of people attempting to evacuate or get assistance and their rocket attacks. Israel allowed 2 million tonnes of food into Gaza while Hamas attempts to sequester them, thus inducing hunger. Gaza population has increased 450% in the last 50 years, no genocide there. Don't buy Hamas numbers."
Earlier, Priyanka had called the murder of at least five Al Jazeera journalists in an Israeli bombardment close to Gaza City's Al-Shifa Hospital "cold blooded murder," stressing, "the immeasurable courage of those who dare to stand for the truth will never be broken by the violence and hatred of the Israeli state.
This is not the first time that Gandhi has been vocal about condemning Israel's activities in Gaza. Earlier this year, she had also criticized Israel's airstrikes when more than 400 innocent civilians and 130 children were killed in Gaza.
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