“We are here with a message of solidarity after the worst terrorist attack Israel has suffered in years,” says Roberta Metsola, President of the European Parliament. 

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Parliament President Roberta Metsola are on a visit to Israel on Friday to express solidarity with the victims of the Hamas terrorist attacks and meet with Israeli leadership.  

The visit to Israel by the presidents of two of the EU’s most important institutions comes six days after Hamas carried out its attack in Israel, which has left more than 1,300 people dead since 7 October and 3,200 wounded.

“I have arrived in Israel with the President of the European Parliament to express our solidarity with the Israeli people after the terrible terrorist attack by Hamas,” Von der Leyen wrote on the social network X.

“We are here with a message of solidarity after the worst terrorist attack Israel has suffered in years. Terror will not prevail. How we respond matters. We can and must stop Hamas and do what we can to mitigate the humanitarian consequences,” Metsola said on the same platform.