Last week he said Israel was acting like Hitler… now they are worse than Hitler.

ANKARA — Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Israel of “barbarism that surpasses Hitler” during its ground invasion of Gaza.

Erdogan made the comment during a campaign speech Saturday in the Black Sea port city of Ordu. He is running for the presidency in elections next month.

He has been speaking out strongly against Israel during its offensive against Hamas in Gaza, which has killed more than 300 Palestinians. Hamas has fired some 1,500 rockets at Israel and carried out a series of terrorist infiltrations via tunnels and from the sea in recent days.

Erdogan accuses Israel of using disproportionate force and has said the operation there has derailed efforts to normalize Turkish-Israeli ties. Those soured after Israel’s 2010 raid on a ship seeking to breach Israel’s security blockade on Hamas-run Gaza which killed eight Turks and a Turkish-American.