The European Parliament on Thursday condemned Hamas’ despicable terrorist attacks against Israel and also expressed serious concern over the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.
In a non-binding resolution adopted with 500 votes in favor, 21 against and 24 abstentions, MEPs strongly condemned the brutal attacks, expressed their support to Israel and its people and underline the need to “eliminate the terrorist organization Hamas”.
The lawmakers also called for the immediate release of all hostages kidnapped by Hamas and recognized Israel’s right to self-defense “as enshrined in and constrained by international law”.
The European Parliament also stressed in the resolution that both the attacks by Hamas and the Israeli response risk reinforcing a cycle of violence in the region. MEPs therefore called for a “humanitarian pause” of the fighting and stressed that attacking civilians and civilian infrastructure, including UN workers, medical workers and journalists, is a serious violation of international law.
The lawmakers also “deeply mourned the loss of hundreds of innocent lives and those injured at the recent blast at the Al Ahli episcopal hospital in Gaza.”
The resolution calls for an independent investigation under international law to establish whether this was a deliberate attack and a war crime and, if so, calls for the perpetrators to be held accountable.
The resolution strongly condemns Iran’s support to Hamas and other terrorist groups in the Gaza strip. MEPs “reiterate their call to include the entirety of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Lebanese Hezbollah on the EU list of terrorist groups and demand investigations into the role of Iran and countries such as Qatar and Russia in financing and supporting terrorism in the region.”
They also denounced the rocket attacks from Lebanon and Syria into Israel and called for a de-escalation of tensions in eastern Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria.