Israel’s ambassador to Japan criticised a leader of Nihon Hidankyo, the atomic bomb survivors’ group awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, for comparing their experiences to the children of Gaza, AFP reports.

Gilad Cohen congratulated Nihon Hidankyo for winning this year’s prize but said in a post on social media platform X on Sunday the comparison drawn by the group’s co-chair Toshiyuki Mimaki “is outrageous and baseless”.

“Gaza is ruled by Hamas, a murderous terrorist organization committing a double war crime: targeting Israeli civilians, including women and children, while using its own people as human shields,” Cohen said.

“Such comparisons distort history and dishonor the victims” of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel that triggered the war in Gaza, Cohen said. Mimaki said after the prize was announced on Friday that the plight of children in Gaza was similar to what Japan faced at the end of World War II.

“In Gaza, bleeding children are being held (by their parents). It’s like in Japan 80 years ago,” Mimaki said.