France’s President Emmanuel Macron (R) and Estonia’s Prime Minister Kaja Kallas deliver a joint press conference at the Elysee Palace in Paris on October 18, 2023.
Christophe Ena / POOL / AFP
After speaking more harshly about the terror group, leaders appeared to continue pushing Israel to change its approach.
Hamas releasing videos of starving Israeli hostages—including of Evyatar David, taken captive on October 7th, ‘digging his own grave’—is a “moral test,” according to Benjamin Netanyahu. Yet despite talking unusually harshly about the terrorist group since, many European leaders appear to have chosen not to actually change tack.
After months of putting the onus on Israel to end its fight against Hamas terrorists, officials were forced to say more about the group’s “barbarity.”
Emmanuel Macron, who is among those accused of “rewarding terror” by preparing to recognise a Palestinian state, said on Sunday that “France’s absolute priority and imperative is the immediate release of all hostages.”
Let there be no ambiguity: within this political vision that we uphold, we demand the total demilitarization of Hamas, its complete exclusion from any form of governance, and recognition of Israel by the State of Palestine.
The European Union’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, also described the footage as “appalling” and said it exposed “the barbarity of Hamas.”
All hostages must be released immediately and unconditionally.
A standout comment from Estonian foreign affairs official Marko Mihkelson stressed that “the barbarity of Hamas makes it impossible for Estonia and like-minded countries to recognise Palestine.”
But in most European capitals, the emphasis still appears to be on Israel to alter its approach.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said last Thursday that the European Union must freeze its trade agreements with Israel, prompting Sweden Democrats officials to question their political agreement with the government. Kristersson has not posted on his social media pages since.
UK PM Keir Starmer was also criticised last week when he refused to say if Britain would recognise a Palestinian state while hostages were still held captive in Gaza. His administration later described the hostage footage as “sickening” but renewed its call for an “immediate ceasefire,” its conditions for which would “embolden Hamas.”
Michael Curzon is a news writer for europeanconservative.com based in England’s Midlands. He is also Editor of Bournbrook Magazine, which he founded in 2019, and previously wrote for London’s Express Online. His Twitter handle is @MichaelCurzon_.
