By Martin Banks

The centre-right EPP Group in the European Parliament, the biggest group in the institution, says it “wants Israel to defend itself against Hamas militants while ensuring that the people of Palestine do not suffer from the actions of Hamas.”

On Wednesday (8 November) EPP Group chairman Manfred Weber, a senior German MEP, will lead the Parliament’s key debate on Israel and antisemitism in Europe.

The Israeli foreign minister is expected to take part in the debate via zoom.

 Weber, speaking ahead of the debate, said, “Israel has the right to defend itself. Hamas militants are brutal terrorists and must be defeated. The people of Palestine are not Hamas and should not suffer for its atrocities. “

“A humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza could derail any hope for peace and also security for Israel,” stressed Weber.

Separately, the EPP has backed a parliamentary resolution condemning what it calls the “despicable terrorist attacks by Hamas against Israel.”

“We have shown unity against terrorism with this resolution. The right of a State to defend itself must prevail,” said Antonio López-Istúriz White, the EPP Group’s chief negotiator of the European Parliament’s resolution.

Meanwhile, journalists covering the Middle East conflict are being threatened with phone threats and deliberate bombings, it has been alleged.

The claim, which has not been corroborated, came when members of the National Union of Journalists (Brussels branch) held an online interview with the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate (PJS) Vice-President in Gaza, Tahseen al-Astal.

Speaking via zoom, Tahseen and his colleagues spoke from a tent outside the Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis – one of the few places where they can communicate with the outside world.

An NUJ source told this website: “Their testimony about conditions on the ground made hard listening, and was brought to a sudden end as bombing came nearer.”

The meeting heard that, since 7 October, at least 23 Palestinian journalists have reportedly been killed in Gaza, with others injured or missing. Hundreds of journalists’ families have been displaced, it is claimed.

The source added, “Most shockingly, Tahseen reported that journalists are being targeted with phone threats and deliberate bombings, which would constitute a war crime.

“The meeting came just two days after three generations of Al Jazeera bureau chief Wael al-Dahdaouh’s family, who had taken refuge in central Gaza, were killed in an Israeli airstrike.”

It is estimated that four Israeli and one Lebanese journalist have died in the conflict.

The PJS is affiliated to the Brussels-based International Federation of Journalists, which has been financing distribution of medical aid kits and battery packs to media workers in Gaza.”

Among the 30 Zoom meeting participants were representatives from the Paris and Netherlands NUJ branches, who were interested in following Brussels’ example by contributing towards the cost of vital supplies.

The source said that Israeli journalists’ unions “have not chosen to join the IFJ.”