The President of the European Commission defended this Wednesday that Israel has the right to guarantee that the terrorist attacks by the Islamist movement Hamas on October 7 are not repeated, but that it must protect Palestinian civilians.
“Israel has the right to do everything in its power to ensure that there will never again be a terrible event like what happened on October 7,” when Hamas terrorists invaded Israeli territory, killing about 1,200 people and more than two hundred kidnapped, according to Ursula. von der Leyen during the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
That said, Israel also has a duty to do everything in its power to protect civilians, even if Hamas uses them as human shields,” he added.
The leader believed that Hamas could “end the war [à guerra] by stopping the fighting”, by freeing the hostages and no longer hiding behind civilians, adding that together with the European Union’s emergency aid, we must also return to the path of the two-state solution.
“There can be no peace unless there is a prospect of a political solution, both for the Israelis and the Palestinians,” Von der Leyen said, listing three main areas: the principles guiding the day after, such as the organization of a international peace conference, the situation in the West Bank, where the perpetrators of the attacks must be punished, and the need to prevent conflicts from spreading to the entire region.
“We have seen an increase in the number of shots fired by the pro-Iranian Hezbollah across the Israeli border,” in addition to attacks carried out by [rebeldes iemenitas] Huthis and the increase in attacks on merchant ships in the Red Sea, which “is dangerous, but it is still possible to prevent the situation from deteriorating,” he opined.
In the debate on the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the President defended “European solutions”, recalling the work done in strengthening borders, combating human trafficking and repatriations.
“We need to find a new balance with countries beyond our borders,” the official said, calling for border management and the fight against smuggling, in addition to people exchanges, trade and job creation.
“This approach is starting to show results in Tunisia, where irregular departures from Sfax have decreased. We now hope to quickly reach an agreement with Egypt, where migration is part of a broader partnership,” says Ursula von der Leyen, who hopes that it will be possible to finalize the new migration and asylum pact in 2023.
Source: DN
