LOOK. Prime Minister De Croo responds to a diplomatic incident with Israel
Israel previously announced that it would summon the Belgian and Spanish ambassadors to the country after “false claims”. During their visit to the Middle East, Sánchez and De Croo called on Israel to do more to protect civilians and respect international law.
During his visit, De Croo condemned the Hamas attacks, but also criticized the Israeli attacks on the Palestinians. “The destruction of Gaza is unacceptable,” De Croo said, among other things. In addition, he called for “an end to settler violence in the West Bank and the killing of innocent people.” The Spanish Prime Minister made similar statements.
Israeli Minister Eli Cohen announced earlier Friday that De Croo and Sanchez are providing “support for terrorism” with their statements, he said on X. “As a result of their words, their ambassadors will be invited for a harsh reprimand interview.” Cohen says on X that “Israel is acting in accordance with international law” and “fighting a murderous terrorist organization that is worse than IS.” He also emphasizes that Israel will resume the fight to eliminate Hamas after the temporary ceasefire.
Prime Minister De Croo responded to the incident at VTM NIEUWS. “There are images of my speech. Everyone can clearly see that I called Hamas’s actions terrorist and that I even said that they (Israel, ed.) could carry out military actions.” De Croo reiterates that there should be no more civilian casualties. “I say there that I want no more civilian casualties, no more innocent people to be killed, that is the logic itself and Israel can hardly object to that,” De Croo said just before his plane takes off to Belgium.
Follow all developments about the Israel-Palestine conflict in our live blog.
WATCH ALSO. De Croo and Sanchez gave a press conference in Rafah this afternoon