European Union condemns Hamas for use of human shields

The 27 foreign ministers in the European Union collectively condemned the use of human shields by Hamas in the Gaza conflict. It is one of the resolutions adopted by the European Union after the meeting of foreign affairs officials held in Brussels on Monday.

The conclusions of the same summit, chaired by the head of European foreign policy, Josep Borrell, also asked Israel to stop attacks that could cause damage to the civilian population in Gaza. The resolution from the European countries is a success for European foreign policy after different EU governments showed disparate positions and responses to the conflict in Israel.

The European Union also reiterated its call to Hamas for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages. "It is crucial that the International Committee of the Red Cross has access to the hostages," states the resolution signed by member states.

Hamas using hospitals as shields

Since the beginning of the conflict, Israel has assured that the terrorist group Hamas makes use of hospitals and other civil infrastructure for military purposes, something prohibited by international war conventions, which make Hamas responsible for deaths and injuries that may be caused by attacks against these presumably civilian positions.

Spokespeople for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) published a series of images and telephone conversations collected by intelligence services that support their version of events. During the month of October, spokesman Daniel Hagari assured that an important Hamas command post is located under Al-Shifa Hospital, the largest in the Gaza Strip. This Sunday, the IDF also published images and reports of how a group of Palestinian gunmen opened fire against IDF positions in Gaza with an anti-tank grenade launcher from the Al Quds Hospital.

Israel claims Hamas is preventing the evacuation of war zones

The Israeli government has also been warning for weeks that the Hamas terrorist organization is preventing Palestinians from leaving the north of the Gaza Strip to take refuge in the south or flee through the Rafah crossing with Egypt.

This weekend, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu once again addressed these accusations and confirmed during an interview with CNN that members of Hamas have carried out executions against Palestinians who were trying to flee the northern part of the strip.

"Hamas is doing everything in its power to keep them (Palestinians) in the danger zone," Netanyahu told Dana Bash for CNN. "It has fired on the safe zone and the safe corridor that we enacted the other day to prevent Palestinians from getting out of danger," he continued.

He called Hamas' actions against the Palestinians "savagery of the highest order," while claiming to have evidence of Hamas attacks and executions against its own people. Regarding the civilian casualties in Gaza, as a result of Israel's airstrikes, Netanyahu again maintained that the IDF is doing everything possible to prevent these deaths.