President Metsola in solidarity with the victims of the terror attacks in Israel

“Thank you all for being here today. I know how much this means for people in Israel who have endured the worst terrorist attack in generations.

I am proud to be here today with so many of you. Our presence here – outside the European Parliament – is significant. Our gathering held in the Simone Veil Agora is symbolic. Our voice is important. And our strong stand against terrorism is crucial.

October 7th is a day that will go down in global infamy. The world has witnessed Jews being murdered simply because they were Jewish. Again. In Israel.

We are here with the President of the European Council, the President of the European Commission, and all of you – as one – to express our solidarity, to condemn the appalling acts of terror and murder and to demand the immediate release of hostages.

Europe stands ready to help broker resolutions, but I have said it before and it bears repeating – There is no justification for terrorism.

Hamas is a terrorist organisation. They do not represent the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people. They do not offer solutions. They offer bloodshed.

It helps to speak plainly. On October 7th Hamas murdered more than a thousand innocent babies, children, women and men and still hold close to 100 more hostage. They opened fire on hundreds of young people at a music event, killing indiscriminately – including EU nationals. They abducted young girls and boys. They took elderly Holocaust survivors and dragged them out of their homes. They paraded dead people through the streets like trophies.

This is not a time for whataboutism. We have to be clear about what we are talking about: this is terror in its worst form.

Ambassador Regev, thank you for being here today. This is Europe. We stand with you.

And I would now ask all of you to mark a moment of silence to remember the victims.”