BRUSSELS, Belgium – The European Union on Saturday condemned deadly attacks in Israel and rockets fired from Lebanon that triggered the Israeli offensive and called for “restraint”.
“The European Union strongly condemns these acts of violence. It must stop,” Joseph Borrell, the bloc’s foreign policy chief, said in a statement after Friday’s attacks on Israel.
Two British-Israeli sisters A shooting attack in the West Bank killed people aged between 15 and 20 and seriously injured their mothers, while a italian tourists killed and seven others injured when an Arab Israeli man rammed his car into pedestrians on a bicycle path in Tel Aviv.
Borrell also condemned the “indiscriminate” rocket fire from the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.
The escalation of violence comes after Israeli police clashed with Palestinians on Tuesday inside Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque on the Temple Mount, with dozens of rockets fired into Israel by Hamas militants in Gaza and Lebanon. Israel responded with attacks at both sites.
“We urge all parties to exercise maximum restraint, avoid escalation and promote peace for the ongoing religious holidays,” Borrell said, referring to the Jewish festival of Passover and the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
“Israel has the right to defend itself. At the same time, any response should be proportionate,” he said.
Soldiers at the scene of a deadly terrorist attack in the West Bank near the settlement of Hamra on April 7, 2023. (Michael Gilady/Flash90)
“The status quo of all holy sites must be maintained,” Borrell said.
The statement from the European Union comes after Israel last month Signal Borrell was not welcomed in Israel after he appeared to make comparisons between Palestinian terrorist attacks and IDF operations.
