The Polish president has condemned the "stupidity" of Israel football fans who unfurled a banner calling Poles "murderers since 1939," an incident which cause outrage and a diplomatic row.

"The scandalous banner displayed by Maccabi Haifa fans insults the memory of Polish citizens – victims of World War II, including 3 million Jews. Stupidity that no words can justify," Karol Nawrocki said on US social media company X early Friday.

At a Thursday Europa Conference League match in Debrecen, Hungary versus Polish club Rakow Czestochowa, Israeli football fans held up a banner saying "murderers since 1939,” in a muddled historical reference.

On September 1, 1939, Nazi Germany invaded Poland, a date many historians mark as the start of World War II in Europe.

Nawrocki lambasted the banner, saying it showed "stupidity that no words can justify”.

The Israeli Embassy in Warsaw also criticised the banner on X, saying: "These shameful incidents do not reflect the spirit of the majority of Israeli fans."

Quoting the embassy's post, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said he hopes that "Israeli youth are taught that in 1939, Nazi Germany invaded Poland and began murdering its citizens of all faiths and nationalities."

Poland’s interior minister also said that "scandalous distortion of Polish history by Israeli hooligans" requires strong condemnation.

"There is and never will be consent for such shameful practices," Marcin Kierwinski wrote on X.

Later, Sikorski said that if Hungary helps Warsaw identify those Israeli fans, they will be banned from reentering Poland.