Islamic terrorist organisation Hamas has welcomed a joint statement by 28 foreign ministers, including those of 17 European Union member states and the UK, calling for an “immediate, unconditional, and permanent” ceasefire in the Gaza strip.
Germany and the US declined to sign the joint statement.
The news was reported by several Arab media outlets with ties to radical Islam including Yemeni news agency Saba and Qatari news network Al Jazeera on July 22.
In a press release, Hamas reportedly hailed the statement as “further international recognition of the wide-scale violations committed by the fascist occupation government against innocent civilians”.
It praised the statement’s “emphasis on allowing humanitarian aid into Gaza through the United Nations and humanitarian organisations”, and its condemnation of the “starvation policy pursued by the Israeli occupation”. The terror organisation said that it constituted a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law.
Hamas also was happy about the western governments’ condemnation of the killing of what it claimed were 800 Palestinian civilians at aid distribution points controlled by the US and Israel.
It failed to mention, though, that Hamas itself had carried out the attacks at aid distribution points where most of the victims died.
Hamas ended its press statement with a call to action, urging the signatory states to translate their words into effective measures and apply real pressure on the Israeli Government to end the conflict.
The acclaim from the terrorist group that carried out the October 7 massacres in Israel in 2023, killing 1,300 Israelis and taking 200 hostages, thus starting the Gaza war, was seen as an embarrassment for the western signatories by Jewish commentators.
The National Jewish Assembly, a British advocacy group, said Hamas welcomed such statements “because they know it helps them, while they still hold Israeli hostages”. It added that pressure should be on Hamas to release the hostages rather than condemning Israel.
US pro-Jewish activist Eyal Yakoby wrote on X on July 21: “Now would be a good time for these countries to take a step back and reflect.”
The joint statement on July 22, condemning Israel and demanding it end the war immediately, was signed by the foreign ministers of 17 EU countries – Austria, Belgium, Denmark, the Baltic states, Finland, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden – as well as by their colleagues from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, Japan, and the UK.
Belgian European Commissioner for Equality Hadja Lahbib also signed the letter.
US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee wrote on X in reaction to the letter: “Digusting! 25 nations put pressure on Israel instead of savages of Hamas!”
He added: “Gaza suffers for one reason: Hamas rejects EVERY proposal. Blaming Israel is irrational.“
Conservative Austrian politician Gregor Raidl said the fact that Austria’s Liberal foreign minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger was among the signatories marked “a real foreign policy step backwards for Austria”.
