FOCUS – Senior EU officials mark the third anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel

BRUSSELS, 7 October /ATSH-DPA/ – The European Union’s most senior officials have expressed their solidarity with Israel on the third anniversary of the Hamas-led attack on Israel.

"The EU stands with all those whose lives changed forever from that day. The indescribable cruelty and terror of 7 October must never happen again", the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, wrote today on the X network.

On 7 October 2023, fighters of Hamas and other extremist organisations killed around 1,200 people in Israel and abducted more than 250 people, whom they then held hostage and took to the Gaza Strip.

The attack triggered the war in Gaza, where, according to the Hamas-controlled health authorities in the territory, more than 74,000 Palestinians have been killed.

Von der Leyen said the EU is still ready to help turn the current fragile ceasefire into a lasting peace, based on the two-state solution.

By the two-state solution is meant the creation of two states, Israel and Palestine, coexisting in peace and security.

"Some days remain forever in your memory. The wounds are still open for many people", said the president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola.

"The European Parliament remembers the victims of that day of horror, while reaffirming its commitment to ending terrorism, finding a path to peace and stepping up efforts to fight the old evil of antisemitism", she said.

"We will never forget. Nothing can justify such terror and this must never happen again", said the president of the European Council, Antonio Costa.

"The EU will always defend Israel’s right to exist in peace and security. The two-state solution remains the only possible path towards a just and lasting peace in the Middle East", he said.