As the 27 EU leaders were meeting in Brussels on Thursday to discuss developments in the Israel-Hamas war, family members of victims and hostages in the October 7th massacres committed by Hamas in southern Israel met the EU press correspondents close to the seat of the EU Council to give their testimonies and send a message to Europe.
Laura Bljaman-Kadar, who, ith her husband, survived the attacks in the Nova music festival near kibbutz Re’eim, recounted the horror of what she saw and endured.
She explained that she was extremely lucky. Indeed, the terrorists had spotted the caravan in which she was hiding with friends. “The Hamas terrorists tried to get in where we were, but they couldn’t open the door. At that point, I was no longer afraid of dying, I was even praying to die, because I can’t imagine how horrible it is to be taken hostage by Hamas, especially for a woman”, she said.
“After very long hours, the army arrived and the terrorists fought with them. Finally, later, they were able to help us get out. We saw the extent of the damage, we saw quantities of bodies… Right now, we’re still burying our friends,’’ Laura said.
Despite this terrible ordeal, she said to still have faith in humanity. “My neighbors are Arabs, they are Muslims and they were terribly worried about us. Hamas is still sending missiles and when I hide in my safe room, I hide with my Arab neighbors. I believe in humanity, I don’t believe in Hamas terrorists.”
Shoval Abend Plotzki, a 27-year-old Israeli studying medicine, reported on in Italy. on the horrific attack by Hamas terrorists on kibbutz Be’eri where almost 150 residents were killed. He said he saw unimaginable things in the days after the attack when he visited the burned-down kibbutz. Dead babies, charred, mutilated corpses, destruction, endless suffering.
His aunt and uncle, Raz and Ohad, have been kidnapped in Gaza. Raz is very ill and takes more than 16 different medications on a daily basis, Shoval said. The family needs assistance of the internatioonal community in providing her with the medical supply she crucially needs in order to survive.
‘’We’re up against obscurantism,” declared Michel Tordjman, a doctor, who made aliyah from France several years ago. His 26-year-old son, Avidan, was killed in the music festival massacre. ‘’Our family is still in mourning. There are deniers, despite the images of the atrocities. We need to pass on our testimonies to prevent this from happening again. There’s also an educational battle to be waged in Palestinian society so that children are not brought up to hate Jews.’’
While in Brussels, they met with Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo and with members of the European Parliament.
During the press conference, Israel’s ambassador to Belgium and Luxembourg Idit Rosenzweig Abu stressed that ‘’calling for a ceasefire at a time like this is counterproductive” even “for efforts on the release of hostages.” “I hope that at the end of the day the declaration of the European Council in Brussels will reflect the right way to deal with us, the Palestinian population and the hostages.’’
“Hamas is a tool of Iran that aims to destabilize and kill any prospect of settlement in our region with the aggravation of also being so cruel. There is no alternative but to eliminate it completely,’’ the ambassador said.
EU call for ‘ humanitarian corridors’
Finally after hours of discussion, the 27 EU leaders came out with a statement calling for pauses for ”humanitarian pauses and humanitarian corridors” to allow aid to enter Gaza. But a demand by Spain for a ceasefire was not approved.
The statement reiterated its condemnation ‘’in the strongest possible terms of Hamas for its brutal and indiscriminate terrorist attacks across Israel.’’ ‘’The use of civilians as human shields by Hamas is a particularly deplorable atrocity,’’ the statement said.
‘’The European Council strongly emphasises Israel’s right to defend itself in line with international law and international humanitarian law. It reiterates its call on Hamas to immediately release all hostages without any precondition.’’ But they don’t have an answer to the question of how to get the hostages out of Gaza.
The EU alsco called for an international peace summit in six months to find a final solution to the long-standing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Experts and diplomats in Brussels doubt that this would bring results as the EU has not much political cloud in the region, contrary to the United States.”