Scholz silent as Palestinian president blames Israel for ’50 holocausts’ during briefing in Berlin

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz failed to comment immediately after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas accused the Israeli army of inflicting ’50 holocausts’ on his people, at a press conference following their bilateral talks in Berlin on Tuesday.

"If we want to dig further into the past, yes, please, I have 50 massacres that were committed by Israel, which were also recorded in documentaries," said Abbas, when asked about the 1972 Munich Olympics attack by a Palestinian militant group.

"50 massacres, 50 Holocausts, and to this day every day we have dead people killed by the [Israeli Defence Forces], by the Israeli army," he continued.

The briefing then ended, with the two leaders shaking hands.

Scholz later attempted to clarify his position on Tuesday, telling newspaper 'Bild' that 'any trivialisation of the Holocaust is intolerable', and also tweeted his disapproval the next day.