NEW DELHI: Senior Congress leaders on Wednesday hit back at Israeli ambassador to India Reuven Azar for publicly targeting party leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and rejecting allegations of genocide in Gaza.Priyanka Gandhi had posted, “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… It is shameful that the Indian Government stands silent as Israel unleashes this devastation on the people of Palestine.”In response, Azar wrote 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.” He added that Israel had facilitated “2 million tonnes of food into Gaza” and claimed that “the Gaza population has grown 450% in the last 50 years, no genocide there.”Congress leaders described the ambassador’s remarks as “unprecedented” and “intolerable.”Former Union minister Anand Sharma accused Azar of “brazen denial” of the humanitarian tragedy in Gaza. “Israeli ambassador’s brazen denial of the humanitarian tragedy in Gaza & justification for brutal killings of over 60,000 defenceless people, especially children, women & elderly people, deserves the strongest condemnation,” Sharma wrote on X. “The language used is undiplomatic, distasteful and unacceptable. World is aghast over the continuing brutalities, destruction of schools and hospitals and mass starvation caused by Israeli army. It is an unpardonable crime against humanity,” he added.Congress leader Pawan Khera said Azar’s criticism of Priyanka Gandhi was “unprecedented” and “intolerable.” “That the ambassador of a state accused of genocide worldwide would target a sitting member of the Parliament is both unprecedented and intolerable. It is a direct affront to the dignity of Indian democracy,” Khera wrote on X, asking, “Will you address the Israeli ambassador’s public attempt to intimidate Priyanka Gandhi? Or has freedom of speech in India now begun to be regulated from Israel?”Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi called the envoy’s remarks “a serious breach of privilege,” adding, “Even if the Union government is silent, the Parliament cannot remain a passive spectator…”Congress MP Jairam Ramesh also termed Azar’s words “totally unacceptable” and criticised the Modi government for “extreme moral cowardice” in not speaking out against Israel’s actions.He urged the government to take serious exception to the ambassador’s response.