EU must help its abducted citizens in Gaza!
To: Ursula Von der Leyen, President of the European Commission
According to media reports, some 800 EU officials recently petitioned you, claiming that you had acted disproportionately when you stood by Israel’s side following Hamas’s unspeakable atrocities on 7 October. We do not share that view. Your critics ignore the following crucial facts.
- 7 October marked the largest loss of Jewish life in a single day since the Holocaust.
- The high numbers of civilian victims given by Hamas cannot be independently verified.§ Nor can many other claims by Hamas, e.g. about Israel bombing the Al-Ahli hospital in Gaza.
- Hamas in fact represents the interests of its sponsor Iran, rather than those of the Gazan people.
- Hamas’s ideology aims at wiping Israel off the map, so any Hamas–Israel negotiations are off the table.
- Since 2006, Hamas has crushed whatever democracy existed in Gaza, killing hundreds of Fatah members.
- In a stark contrast to Hamas’s terrorists, Israel’s military does not intentionally target civilian population.
- Hamas uses civilians as human shields, which makes it, not the Israeli soldiers, responsible for their fate.§ Attacks on civilian infrastructure are allowed under international law if it is used for military purposes.
- Hamas’s elaborate network of tunnels under Gaza has exit points in schools, mosques, hospitals, etc.
- Distinguishing (non-uniformed) militants from civilians is typically impossible, or not immediately.
- Hamas has an army of 25,000 (plus Islamic Jihad and others): 1 in 40 Gazan men is a combatant.
- Each of them has supportive friends and family, raising the count of anti-Israelis to… 1 in 10?
- Hamas also has lots of willing collaborators, further raising that number to some… 1 in 3?
In such conditions, fighting a “clean” war against Hamas in densely populated Gaza is a practical impossibility. Whatever mistakes both Jews and Palestinians committed in the past – and those were many – Israeli authorities now have a situation on their hands with which they have to deal, and urgently. As they plan to rescue the hostages, they also face an even more serious threat from Hezbollah in the north, from Iran, and from other (especially Arab and/or Muslim) hostile states in the region and around the world.
Marta Rebzda Contact the author of the petition