Thursday, October 12, 2023, 16:27
An “absolute condemnation” of the terrorist attacks carried out by Hamas, but not a word about the blockade and the cutting of electricity, food and water to the population of Gaza. The Secretary General of NATO, the Norwegian Jens Stoltenberg, assured this Thursday that the Defense Ministers of the Atlantic Alliance have conveyed their support to Israel and its Defense Minister, Yoav Galant, who participated by videoconference in the meeting and have called for the “immediate” release of the hostages. However, when asked by journalists, the head of NATO has avoided commenting on the blockade of Gaza and has limited himself to pointing out that Israel “has the right to defend itself proportionally.”
“NATO as an alliance is not directly involved in this situation,” Stoltenberg recalled, however, its defense ministers have shown their solidarity with Israel, which “showed us horrible videos of attacks against civilians by Hamas and which demonstrate the brutality of the attacks. In the face of this conflict, the political head of the Atlantic Alliance has assured that, as the situation evolves, “it is important to protect civilians. There are rules of war and actions must be carried out with proportionality,” he added.
He has also stressed that no external actor should “take advantage” of this conflict and has expressly mentioned Iran and Hezbollah. For his part, the United States Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, has assured that he expects the Israeli military to “do the right thing” and that he has not demanded any conditions for his military support for Israel. The White House has sent air defenses and ammunition to the Hebrew country and, for the moment, Austin has indicated that “there is no indication” that Hezbollah is preparing any attack against Israel.
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