Hamas issues new statement on recent European stances

The Palestinian movement Hamas issued a press statement welcoming the recent positions taken by several European countries regarding the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, while urging world leaders to take urgent steps to end the ongoing "Israeli" assault and lift the blockade on the besieged coastal territory.

In the statement released on Thursday, Hamas praised the "humanitarian and courageous" stance of Spain, Norway, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, and Slovenia. The countries issued a joint declaration calling for an end to the war on Gaza, the lifting of the blockade, and condemned both the "Israeli" escalation and settler violence in the occupied West Bank.

“These moral and responsible positions represent a cry of conscience in the face of the occupation’s crimes,” the statement read, adding that they “expose the falsehoods and lies of the enemy’s narrative that seeks to justify genocide and starvation.”

Hamas also expressed appreciation for French President Emmanuel Macron’s recent remarks, in which he called for an immediate ceasefire, an end to the blockade on Gaza, and condemned "Israel's" targeting of Palestinian civilians.

The group called on international leaders to “raise their voices loudly against the Zionist occupation and its brutal massacres,” and to pressure Israel into ending the war and complying with international law.

Hamas concluded its message by urging Arab states to adopt a unified stance to stop what it called a “war of extermination” against the people of Gaza, and to ensure the immediate and unimpeded entry of humanitarian and medical aid.

The Gaza Strip has faced months of bombardment, with mounting casualties and severe shortages of food, water, and medicine. Gaza’s health authorities say tens of thousands have been killed or wounded, many of them women and children. The United Nations has warned of imminent famine and a total collapse of the healthcare system if aid access is not urgently restored.