President Herzog met today (Thursday) with the Prime Ministers of Belgium and Spain, Alexander De Croo and Pedro Sanchez, describing the horrors of Hamas and delivering a message about the hostage deal with Hamas.
He started with a statement thanking his guests for their support of Israel, and took note of the atrocities committed by Hamas in the October 7 massacre. “It's a great honor to host you here and we are grateful to you for this show on support and solidarity as our nation is in deep agony, suffering pain, as we've seen horrors that are unending.”
The President then went into detail, “Yesterday for example, another young girl who set up celebrated in the nature festival was identified, her body was identified after a long, long process of identification, which just means what type of horrors people have gone through with their bodies chopped and burned, babies being hijacked, abducted or killed, with entire families tied together and burned, women been raped en masse.”
Herzog on the Hostage Deal: “These are critical hours”
Herzog also addressed the silence of international women’s organizations in the face of the mass sexual abuse of Israeli women. “This weekend the world will mark the International Day Against Violence Against Women. Unfortunately, the international community especially international organizations which were supposed to deal with these atrocious crimes which occurred on 7 October, have kept silent.”
“We have clear proof and testimonies about gender violence and sexual abuse and rape, horrific stories and the world stayed silent. We expect the international community especially the international organizations to take firm action against these atrocities.”
Regarding the hostage deal, the President said that “These are critical hours, we are waiting and praying for the return of the first group of hostages and the entry into the ceasefire that was agreed between Israel and Qatar, and Qatar and Hamas, under the auspices of the United States of America. We want to give hope to the families who are going through hell, for them to see the young babies, children and grown ups, women, coming back home with the aim of seeing all of them come back home. But for that, we need to make sure that Hamas adheres to the strict rules of the agreement, and these are the exact details that are being discussed right now.”
He ended by addressing the humanitarian situation in Gaza. “We are also here to discuss the humanitarian situation in Gaza which is very important to Israel and to all parties concerned. Israel is taking major steps to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza together with the United Nations, with Arab countries.”
“Yesterday, I had long conversations with various foreign ministers including in the region, to make sure that we can upgrade the humanitarian situation, with the introduction of field hospitals, and further supply of necessary food and medicine, and of course make sure that the humanitarian corridor from north to south will supply the needs of the people who are moving, the uninvolved civilians, who are moving from north to south. We hope that this pause and introduction into the ceasefire will enable us to both improve the situation, secure the Israeli military operation, and make sure that the end goal to eradicate the capabilities of Hamas, which will change the future of Gaza and its people as well as of course Israel's well-being and safety.”
Belgian Prime Minister: Taking Innocent Hostages is a War Crime
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez expressed his support for Israel and addressed the hostage deal: “My country, Spain, shares in Israel’s pain and sorrow. We condemn once again the shocking acts of terrorism of October 7. And I welcome the agreement that will allow for the release of some of the hostages and establishment of the humanitarian pause. We hope it is fully integrated as soon as possible.”
Meanwhile, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo emphatically stated his country’s support for Israel in stark terms: ““As you said, October 7, we woke up in agony. We saw things that we would never imagined we would we ever seen. Let me be clear, we stand on your side in protecting the Israeli people and protecting your rights to protect yourself from terrorist attacks. Antisemitism is something which is not acceptable. And it puts in danger Jewish people around the world. And they live in agony today. And we feel it and we want to help.”
He added that, “We hope that the agreement that hopefully is reached will lead to the liberation of hostages. Taking innocent hostages is a war crime, something which cannot be accepted, and I really hope that today is a step forward: a step forward on liberating innocent people.”