BRUSSELS: The presidents of the European Commission and Parliament, Ursula von der Leyen and Roberta Metsola, will visit Israel on Friday in the wake of Hamas’ bloody assault on Israeli communities.
A statement from the commission said the senior Brussels officials would “express solidarity with the victims of the Hamas terrorist attacks, and meet with Israeli leadership.”
Hamas gunmen killed 1,200 mainly civilian people and took about 150 hostages in a shock onslaught launched from the Palestinian territory of Gaza on Saturday.
Israel has responded by raining air and artillery strikes on Hamas targets in Gaza for six days, claiming more than 1,400 Palestinian lives.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Israel on Thursday and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will arrive on Friday to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The EU chiefs program of visits has not been finalized.
The European Union and its member states have expressed horror at Hamas’ killings and endorsed Israel’s right to defend itself within “the limits of international law.”
Some European officials have expressed concerns about Israel’s new siege of Gaza.
But von der Leyen and Metsola have been outspoken in their support for Israel, accusing Hamas of carrying out an anti-Semitic massacre of innocent civilians.
“October 7 is a day that will go down in global infamy,” Metsola said on Wednesday at a Brussels tribute ceremony to the Israeli dead.
“The world has witnessed Jews being murdered simply because they were Jewish. Again. In Israel,” she said.
Earlier, von der Leyen had told her commission colleagues: “These innocents were killed for one single reason. For being Jewish and living in the State of Israel.
“It is an ancient evil, which reminds us of the darkest past and shocks all of us to the core,” she said.
EU’s von der Leyen and parliament chief head to Israel as Gaza violence escalates
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EU’s von der Leyen and parliament chief head to Israel as Gaza violence escalates
- While endorsing Israel’s right to defend itself, EU and members states said it must be within “the limits of international law”
- Some European officials have expressed concerns about Israel’s new siege of Gaza, which is causing a humanitarian crisis
Morocco’s energy ministry puts gas pipeline project on hold
- The country’s natural gas demand is expected to rise to 8 billion cubic meters in 2027 from around 1 bcm currently, according to ministry estimates
RABAT: Morocco’s energy ministry said on Monday it has paused a tender launched last month for a gas pipeline project, without giving details on the reasons for the suspension.
The tender sought bids to build a pipeline linking a future gas terminal at the Nador West Med port on the Mediterranean to an existing pipeline that allows Morocco to import LNG through Spanish terminals and supply two power plants.
It also covered a section that would connect the existing pipeline to industrial zones on the Atlantic in Mohammedia and Kenitra.
“Due to new parameters and assumptions related to this project... the ministry of energy transition and sustainable development is postponing the receipt of applications and the opening of bids received as of today,” the ministry said in a statement.
Morocco is looking to expand its use of natural gas to diversify away from coal as it also accelerates its renewable energy plan, which aims for renewables to account for 52 percent of installed capacity by 2030, up from 45 percent now.
The country’s natural gas demand is expected to rise to 8 billion cubic meters in 2027 from around 1 bcm currently, according to ministry estimates.
