A spokesman for Israel’s Foreign Affairs Ministry blamed the European Union for financing the indoctrination of Palestinian children in the antisemitism at the heart of Hamas’ massacre of hundreds of Israeli civilians.
Hundreds of Hamas terrorists, reportedly with backing from Iran, invaded Israel from Gaza on Saturday morning, killing at least 900 Israelis and wounding thousands more. Hamas terrorists are holding an estimated 150 more Israelis as captives in the Gaza Strip. Images and videos that surfaced online from the attack depict Hamas militants murdering and mutilating the bodies of civilians.
A spokesman for Israel’s Foreign Affairs Ministry said European accommodation of rampant anti-Semitism in Palestinian communities in Gaza fostered the dehumanization of Israelis.
“The European Union was financing textbooks of the Palestinian authorities that were full of antisemitism and incitement for violence and terrorism against Jews,” spokesman Lior Haiat said Monday, according to The Washington Examiner. “Those textbooks are the root of the Palestinian terror against Israelis. Young people are being taught, educated, to hate Jews and to murder Jews.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has promised an unprecedented military campaign against Hamas in response to the attack, which has been called the worst day for Jews since the Holocaust.
“To my mind, not since the Holocaust have so many Jews been killed on one day,” Israeli President Isaac Herzog said. “And not since the Holocaust have we witnessed scenes of Jewish women and children, grandparents, even Holocaust survivors, being herded into trucks and taken into captivity.”
The Israeli military is preparing for a “complete siege” of Gaza, according to Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. Over the past few days, Israel’s air force has conducted bombing runs that hit locations key to Hamas’ military operation. The Israeli government has directed civilians living in Gaza to flee the area or risk danger in the invasion.
“I have given an order – Gaza will be under complete siege,” Gallant said, according to CNN. “We are fighting barbarians and will respond accordingly.”
In response, Hamas has ordered Palestinians living in Gaza to shelter in their homes, a move that has been condemned as another attempt by the terror group to use civilians as human shields against Israeli bombing runs. Hamas has also threatened to execute hostages.
“We declare that we will respond to any targeting of our people who are safe in their homes without warning, with the execution of our civilian hostages, and we will broadcast it with audio and video,” Abu Obaida, the spokesman for Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades, said in a post on Telegram.