MAGEN, Israel (Reuters) – EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell urged Israel on Thursday not to be consumed by rage in its response to last month’s Hamas attack, declaring that “one horror does not justify another”.
Borrell made his remarks on a visit to Israel, speaking alongside Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen after the two men had visited Kibbutz Be’eri, a focal point of the Oct. 7 assault.
“I understand your rage but let me ask you not to be consumed by rage. I think that’s what the best friends of Israel can tell you,” he said.
Speaking at a regional council building a short drive from the kibbutz, Borrell stressed the EU’s solidarity with Israel and its support for the country’s right to defend itself in line with international law.
“But one thing is to defend Israel and another thing’s to take care of the people in need,” he added.
“And that is why the European Union, together with supporting the right to defend to Israel, is also asking for humanitarian assistance, for food, water, fuel, protection (for people in Gaza),” he said.
(Reporting by Andrew Gray, editing by Bart Meijer and Christina Fincher)
