Priyanka Gandhi targets Israel for Gaza 'genocide'; Ambassador says ‘shameful of her deceit’

'The Israeli state is committing genocide. It has murdered over 60,000 people, 18,430 of whom were children', Priyanka said.

New Delhi: Top Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi on Tuesday accused Israel of "committing genocide" in Palestine and Modi government of remaining silent, which prompted Israeli Ambassador Reuven Azar to allege that her "deceit" was shameful.

Congress condemned the Ambassador for his remarks in response to its leader's "pain and anguish" on the happenings in Gaza.

Priyanka on X said, "The Israeli state is committing genocide. It 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. It is shameful that the Indian Government stands silent as Israel unleashes this devastation on the people of Palestine."

To this, Azar responded by tagging the Congress leader's post, "What is shameful is your deceit. Israel Killed 25,000 Hamas terrorists. The terrible cost in human lives derives from Hamas’s heinous tactics of hiding behind civilians, their shooting of people trying to evacuate or receive assistance and their rocket fire."

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

Angry at Azar's remarks, Congress condemned the "words used by Israel's Ambassador to India in response to the pain and anguish" expressed by Priyanka on Israel's "continuing genocide" in Gaza.

"It is too much to expect the Modi government, which has shown extreme moral cowardice when it comes to speaking out on Israel’s destruction of Gaza over the past 18-20 months, to take serious exception and objection to the Ambassador's response. We do and find it totally unacceptable," Congress General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh posted on X.