New Delhi, Aug 12 : Israeli Ambassador to India Reuven Azar on Tuesday hit back at Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi for accusing Israel of committing "genocide" in Palestine and advised her not to buy claims by Hamas.

This comes after Priyanka strongly criticised the Central government for remaining silent on Israel's "genocide" in Palestine, asserting that such inaction amounts to complicity.

Reacting to this, the Israeli envoy posted on X, "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."

Highlighting Hamas's action in Palestine, Azar said, "Israel facilitated 2 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."

Priyanka had criticised the Indian government in a post on X, where she wrote, "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," she said, slamming the Centre.

Israel has been fighting a war against Hamas in Gaza after the October 7 attack, during which over 3000 militants infiltrated Israel and killed approximately 1200 civilians and took 240 people, including women and children, hostage.

Since then, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has launched a large-scale offensive against Hamas and its affiliated groups, which have carried out multiple attacks against Israel.

/IANS