European Parliament calls for Hamas to be ‘eliminated,’ urges release of hostages
Non-binding resolution expresses concern for humanitarian conditions in Gaza Strip, calls for pause in fighting to allow for supplies to reach needy
The European Parliament on Thursday called for the Hamas terror group to be “eliminated” in a scathing rebuke of its devastating onslaught on southern Israel on October 7.
In a non-binding resolution passed 500-21, the body demanded the “unconditional release” of hostages held in Gaza, blasting their kidnapping as a war crime while expressing sympathy for civilian victims on both sides of the conflict.
The parliament “condemns, in the strongest possible terms, the despicable terrorist attacks committed by the terrorist group Hamas against Israel and expresses its support for the State of Israel and its people [and] reiterates that the terrorist organization Hamas needs to be eliminated.”
War erupted after Hamas’s October 7 massacre, which saw at least 1,500 terrorists burst across the border into Israel from the Gaza Strip by land, air and sea, killing some 1,400 people and seizing over 200 hostages of all ages and several nationalities under the cover of a deluge of thousands of rockets fired at Israeli towns and cities
The vast majority of those killed as gunmen seized border communities were civilians — men, women, children and the elderly. Entire families were executed in their homes, and over 260 were slaughtered at an outdoor festival, many amid horrific acts of brutality by the terrorists, in what US President Joe Biden has highlighted as “the worst massacre of the Jewish people since the Holocaust.”
In the 13 days since, Israel has responded with an intense bombing campaign that Gaza health officials say has claimed around 3,700 lives. Israel says its offensive is aimed at destroying Hamas’s infrastructure, and has vowed to eliminate the entire terror group, which rules the Strip.
Israel has vowed to eradicate Hamas, and says it is targeting all areas of Gaza where Hamas operates, while seeking to minimize harm to civilians.
The EU includes Hamas on its terror blacklist, but it has been removed several times in the last decade as the result of court rulings and appeals.
Expressing concern over conditions for civilians in the coastal enclave, the parliament’s resolution called for a “humanitarian pause” in Gaza to allow aid to reach the needy and stressed that Israel’s right to defend itself can only be done within the strictures of international law.
The call for a “humanitarian pause” stopped short of demanding a cease-fire.
Up to 20 trucks of aid are slated to enter Gaza Friday for the first time since the start of the war, US President Joe Biden said Wednesday, adding that the number would hopefully increase in the future.
A trilateral committee of Israel, the United States and Egypt was formed to facilitate and monitor the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza through Cairo’s Rafah crossing, a UN official told The Times of Israel.
The parliament also urged for an independent probe into Tuesday evening’s blast at Gaza’s al-Ahli Hospital.
Hamas said the explosion killed up to 471 people and asserted that it was the result of an Israeli airstrike.
Israel denied this, and has produced evidence to show that the blast was caused by a misfired rocket terror group launched at Israel by a Palestinian terror group. The US, other Western countries and many analysts have endorsed the Israeli assessment, and believe the death toll was far lower.