Amid Israel’s ongoing offensive in the Gaza Strip, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Adolf Hitler would be “jealous” of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for Israel’s “genocidal methods” in the Strip.
His remarks came in an interview with Greece’s Kathimerini newspaper on Sunday, May 12, in response to a question about his description of Netanyahu as “the Hitler of our era.”
Erdogan referred to what Israel has been doing to the people of Gaza for months, including bombing hospitals, killing children, oppressing civilians, exposing innocent people to hunger and thirst, and depriving them of medicine under various pretexts. He asked, “Can this be seen as legitimate?”
He continued, “What did Hitler do in the past? He persecuted and killed people in concentration camps.”
“Wasn’t Gaza turned into an open-air prison not only after Oct. 7, but also for years beforehand? Weren’t the people there condemned to limited resources for years, almost like a concentration camp?”
Erdogan asked, “Who is responsible for the most brutal and systematic mass killings in Gaza after October 7? What do you call Israel that tells people to go to this region and rains bombs on it?”
He said, “Netanyahu has reached a level of genocidal methods that makes Hitler jealous of him.”
He pointed out that Israel targeted ambulances, struck food distribution points, and opened fire on aid convoys.
This is not the first time Erdogan has compared Netanyahu to the Hitler.
In December 2023, Erdogan said that “there is no difference” between what Netanyahu is doing in the Gaza and what Hitler did during World War II.
Israel has launched a brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip since a Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, which killed nearly 1,200 people.
Since then, over 35,000 Palestinians, primarily women and children, have been killed and 78,755 others injured.
Israel also continues the war despite the provisional measures issued by the ICJ, as well as despite the UN Security Council (UNSC) later issuing an immediate ceasefire resolution.
