EU top diplomat asks Israel ‘not to be consumed by rage’

Kibbutz Beeri, Israel – – AFP

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has called for Gaza hostages to be immediately freed. He also asked Israel “not to be consumed by rage” in its so-called “battle with Hamas” in the Palestinian territory.

“I ask for their immediate and unconditional release,” Borrell said on a visit to a kibbutz community targeted by Hamas in the October 7 attacks. “I understand your fears and pain… I understand your rage. But let me ask you not to be consumed by rage.”

Israeli officials claim that about 1,200 people were killed — mostly civilians — and around 240 hostages taken when Hamas resistance fighters surged across the border.

However, later investigations and testimonies revealed that a number of Israeli casualties were a result of indiscriminate crossfire by Israeli forces.

Nonetheless, Israel predictably chose to respond with disproportionate aggression. Israel has bombarded Gaza and sent in ground troops into the besieged territory, killing more than 11,500 people — mostly civilians — according to the Hamas government there.

Speaking at Kibbutz Beeri, whose leaders reported around 85 people killed and around 30 taken prisoner by Hamas, Borrell said “Israel has to be defended”.

However, he added “one horror doesn’t justify another: innocent civilians, including thousands of children, have died in the past few weeks.”