EU Parliament supports Israel and civilians in Gaza

2023-10-19 08:27:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

EU Parliament supports Israel and civilians in Gaza

Illustrative photo

Hamas's terror against Israel is strongly condemned, while attention is drawn to Israel. The peace process in the Middle East must be revived, the EU Parliament demands.

The message from the European Parliament in Strasbourg was clear. All parliamentary groups condemn the terrorist attack by Hamas on Israel. At the same time, the MPs more or less strongly adhere to the request that Israel should possibly not kill or endanger civilians during its defense against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

International law must be respected. Relatives of the hostages, who were kidnapped and held in Gaza by Hamas, were in public seats in the European Parliament. Parliament demanded the immediate release of all hostages. Some speakers pointed out that the war declared by Israel against Hamas has increased the risk of terror in the EU. The attacks in France and Belgium are the first evidence that Islamist terror is returning to Europe.

Von der Leyen: The attack on the hospital must be investigated

The President of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, condemned the attack on a hospital in the city of Gaza, where several hundred people lost their lives as a result on Tuesday (17.10) evening. "There is no excuse for hitting a hospital full of civilians," Ursula von der Leyen said. Now it must be clarified who is responsible for the attack. All the facts must be laid on the table.

Hamas terrorist militias accuse Israel. Israel's army considers that the cause of the destruction of the hospital was an erroneous rocket launch by the Islamic Jihad terrorist group. Jihad's rockets were actually intended to hit Israel.

Criticism of von der Leyen

The President of the EU Commission, who in recent days has been criticized by MPs as being too one-sided in favor of Israel, reiterated that the EU is on Israel's side. The EU must accept the right of this country to defend itself. Only after doing this can it even claim with credibility that Israel should act democratically and in harmony with international law, von der Leyen said. The EU Commissioner for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, condemned the terror of Hamas, but also drew attention to the need to protect civilians in the Gaza Strip.

The head of the group of socialists in the EU Parliament, the Spaniard Iratxe García Pérez, criticized the president of the Commission, that during the visit to Israel he expressed his solidarity, but forgot to remind the Israeli prime minister that crime cannot be fought with crime. The EU should provide humanitarian aid and engage as a mediator to establish a ceasefire.

Weber: "Even Europe has been attacked"

The head of the group of democrats, Manfred Weber, who like Ursula von der Leyen belongs to a conservative party in Germany, supported the visit of the president of the Commission to Israel. "Israel has been attacked, but Europe has also been attacked, because the European way of life has been attacked. Israel after the Holocaust was the promise to the Jewish people that they can live there in safety and peace. While now they crawled out of their homes and they took hostages," said Manfred Weber. He also requested that the hate messages on the social networks of the Meta concern and on the X platform should be stopped immediately. It is unbelievable that the Brussels assassin was able to spread his messages there after killing two Swedes.

Environmentalist MP Philippe Lamberts from Belgium said that nothing can justify the barbaric acts of Hamas. Israel has the right and obligation to protect its citizens. "But that doesn't mean he has the right to revenge," Lamberts said. There should be no collective punishment for the Palestinians. The two-state solution should be pursued again for a peace process. There can be no peace as long as Hamas exists. There can be no peace as long as the Palestinian territories are occupied.

Left-wing politician accuses Israel of "genocide"

The Spanish MP, Manu Pineda, head of the parliamentary delegation for the Palestinians, accused the Israeli government of being a "regime" that is committing genocide and turning the Gaza Strip into a "new ghetto of Warsaw". For this, the MEP was deprived of the right to speak by the president of the parliament.

Referees of right-wing populist groups warned that the EU is allowing terrorists to enter as migrants and asylum seekers. More checks are needed. MP Herman Tertsch from Spain's far-right Vox party described Gaza as a "pit full of hate". "We bring these people to Europe", criticized Tertsch./ DW