Israel ruthlessly bombed Gaza in response to Hamas attack, killing more than 3,000 people
Strasbourg, France:
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday there is “no excuse to hit a hospital full of civilians” in Gaza, but did not blame the blast.
The president of the European Commission told EU lawmakers that “the facts must be established” about the overnight attack on the Gaza hospital that killed at least 200 people.
Israel and the Palestinians accuse each other of the blast, which has sparked street protests in the Middle East against Israel.
Von der Leyen said in his speech to the European Parliament in Strasbourg that the overnight explosion turned the hospital into “an inferno of fire”.
“All those responsible must be held accountable,” she said.
Von der Leyen, who visited Israel last Friday in a show of solidarity with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, has been criticized by some European Union countries for alleged bias on the Israeli side at the expense of Palestinian citizens.
That prompted a summit of EU leaders by videoconference late Tuesday to emphasize the bloc’s dual message: that Israel has the right to defend itself after Hamas’ bloody attack on October 7 – but only in accordance with its obligations under international humanitarian law.
Hamas sent fighters through the Gaza Strip’s heavily militarized border on October 7, killing more than 1,400 people. They also took nearly 200 hostages.
Israel has ruthlessly bombed Gaza in response, killing more than 3,000 people in the Hamas-controlled area, according to the Health Ministry.
In her parliamentary speech, Von der Leyen said “we must redouble our efforts to protect civilians from the wrath of war”.
But she said Hamas was the underlying reason for the ordeal Palestinians are now experiencing.
“Hamas are terrorists. And the Palestinian people also suffer from that terror,” she said.
She added that the EU must continue to support the Palestinians, “and that there is no contradiction in standing in solidarity with Israel.”
“Europe stands with Israel in this dark moment,” Von der Leyen said, adding that “Israel must act as a democracy, in accordance with international humanitarian law.”
Against ‘rules of war’
The EU’s top foreign policy official, Josep Borrell, struck a stern tone on the scale of Israel’s response, which is affecting all 2.3 million Palestinians in Hamas-controlled Gaza, which Israel has besieged, cut off from water , food and electricity. and humanitarian aid.
“Yes, we condemn these terrible terrorist attacks, but I think we must also condemn the fact of civilian casualties,” Borrell told parliament.
“Cutting off water and food supplies to the civilian population is not in accordance with the rules of law,” he said.
“We cannot hold the people of Gaza responsible for the terrible actions of Hamas.”
The speeches to parliament and Tuesday’s videoconference EU summit highlighted the differences of opinion within the EU over developments in the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
While there is widespread condemnation of Hamas’s slaughter of Israelis, disagreements over calls to curb retaliatory attacks on Gaza remain common.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
