The Presidents of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, visited Israel on Friday 13 October, 6 days after the Hamas attacks, to express the European Union’s solidarity with the Israeli people.
They visited Kfar Azza, one of the kibbutzes attacked by Hamas terrorists, and the site of the music festival, another massacre site, on Saturday 7 October, before meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog.
“In the face of this unspeakable tragedy, there is only one possible response. Europe stands by Israel”, stressed Ms von der Leyen, alongside Benyamin Netanyahu.
In her view, Israel not only has the right to defend itself, but also has “the duty to defend its people”. Ms von der Leyen added that Hamas was solely responsible for the situation on the ground.
“The horror unleashed by Hamas only increases the suffering of innocent Palestinians. They too are under threat. The despicable actions of Hamas are the hallmark of terrorists, and I know that Israel’s reaction will show that it is a democracy”, she added.
While the terrorist organisation continues to fire rockets at the Jewish State, the latter is continuing its bombardment of the Gaza Strip and preparing for a ground offensive.
“We must - and we can - stop Hamas”, Ms Metsola stressed, expressing the need to “work together to overcome the humanitarian consequences of what we are facing, after this barbaric act that we have seen”.
The Israeli Prime Minister, for his part, called on the international community to adopt a concrete stance to sanction countries that have diplomatic relations with or harbour the “scourge” that is Hamas. “If we remain united, civilisation will win”, he added.
“Hamas and its infrastructures must be eradicated so that Palestinians in the region can live decently”, said Mr Herzog, who also called for the unconditional release of the Israeli hostages. He asked the international community to call for the immediate displacement of the Gazan population so that Israel would have “the capacity under international law to fight and defend itself”.
Protecting civilians
Earlier in the day, Commission spokesman Eric Mamer reiterated that “Israel has the right to defend itself in line with international law and (that) the protection of civilians is of the utmost importance to all sides”.
According to Mr Mamer, the Commission is “very attentive” to the humanitarian situation and has “fears” about the situation deteriorating. He called for the necessary measures to be taken and supported the UN’s calls for the creation of humanitarian corridors in Gaza.
“We would point out that these actions are the result of a terrorist act on a completely unprecedented scale perpetrated by Hamas terrorists on Saturday 7 October”, he added.
On Friday, the UN called on Israel to reverse its call for Gazans, a total of more than 1 million people, to leave the north of the Gaza Strip within 24 hours. The Commission says that “civilians must be warned of the arrival of a military operation so that they can leave, and this is what Israel has done”. “Such a warning and the planned displacement of a large part of the population should make it possible to avoid, as the United Nations says, serious humanitarian consequences”, it added.
According to the UN Secretary-General’s spokesman, Stéphane Dujarric, it is “impossible for such a population displacement to take place without devastating humanitarian consequences”.
Mr Mamer also stressed the importance of Hamas not preventing people from leaving and not using them as human shields. “That would be another Hamas atrocity”, he warned.
The UN Security Council was due to hold another emergency meeting in camera on Friday to discuss the situation in the region. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)