‘They are monsters’: Israel foreign minister rails against Hamas during MEP audience

BRUSSELS — Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen told MEPs that Hamas militants who killed 1,400 Israelis and took more than 200 people hostage on October 7 are worse than animals.

“If you will see the movies you will not call the Hamas animals, it’s a compliment to call them animals; they are monsters,” the Israeli minister said before screening a two-minute video of the atrocities that brought some in the European Parliament to tears, at an event organized by the Israeli mission to the EU and hosted by Spanish European People’s Party lawmaker Antonio López-Istúriz.

The conference — an effort by Israel to remind politicians and journalists of the October 7 attacks and the continued suffering of the hostages — came as global attention shifts to the desperate humanitarian situation in Gaza. The Israeli embassy also screened a 46-minute movie of footage recorded by Hamas to journalists in Brussels Monday.

In response to last month’s attacks, Israel launched a war against Hamas in Gaza, including daily airstrikes and a ground operation, that has now killed more than 10,500 Palestinians in the densely-populated enclave, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. In addition, Israel has imposed a “complete siege” on the 2.2 million people living in Gaza, cutting off food, fuel, electricity and water to the entire population and limiting the number of aid trucks entering the Palestinian territory. Limited amounts of aid has entered Gaza through its border crossing with Egypt, which the U.N. has called a “trickle.” The majority of Palestinians in Gaza, before Israel’s war on Hamas, relied on humanitarian aid daily.

Cohen criticized U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres for demanding an immediate cease-fire.

The Parliament last month called for a humanitarian pause in the fighting — not a cease-fire — to allow more aid to reach Palestinians trapped in Gaza.

In Brussels, Cohen pinned the deaths of thousands of Palestinian civilians, including many children, under Israeli bombardment in Gaza on Hamas. Israel’s allies, including the U.S., have repeatedly called on Israel to limit civilian casualties and operate under the norms of international humanitarian law.

“There is only one cause for the murder of the civilians in Israel and in Gaza: It’s the Hamas. And we all of us ask, free Gaza from the Hamas,” he said.

Cohen said that Iran was the link between the Hamas attacks and Israel’s conflicts with Hezbollah on its border with Lebanon, as well as the missiles fired at Israel from Yemen.

He accused Iran of wanting to stop Israel’s normalization of diplomatic relations and peace talks with Arab countries. “This was also one of their goals,” Cohen said, accusing Tehran of being the largest funder of terrorism in the world.

Cohen asked his audience in the EU Parliament to be “united” in calling for the immediate release of the over 240 hostages held captive by Hamas. He also met European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, and EU Commissioners Olivér Varhelyi and Margaritis Schinas.

Five relatives of those taken gave testimony at the meeting, chaired by the EPP lawmaker López-Istúriz, who leads the assembly’s delegation for relations with Israel.

“You can’t imagine even in your worst dream, what I’m going through,” said Shai Wenkert, whose 22-year-old son Omer was kidnapped from the music festival where hundreds were murdered. “I need your help.”

Yoni Asher’s mother-in-law was killed on October 7, and his wife and two infant children — all of whom are German citizens — are hostages. “My family are still alive. We can still save them and all of the hostages,” he said, but criticized what he perceived as a muted European outcry about the EU citizens who were killed or are captive.

MEP López-Istúriz said: “We are doing our best.”