Metsola under fire over Israel visit amid claims she ignored Palestinians’ plight in Gaza

Roberta Metsola has come under fire from Maltese Foreign Minister Ian Borg for visiting Israel and giving the impression the EU is indifferent to the human catastrophe in Gaza.

Borg insisted on Monday that Metsola does not speak for the whole of the EU in a rebuke of the European Parliament president.

“The EU is not solely represented by Roberta Metsola, nor does her presence alongside the Israeli president represent all EU institutions. There are multiple institutions within the EU, and Roberta Metsola represents only the institution that elected her as its president,” Borg said on TVM’s Xtra.

Metsola visited Israel with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen this week in a show of solidarity with Israeli victims of Hamas. She accused Hamas terrorists of having pushed the prospect of lasting peace “further away”.

But Metsola and Von der Leyen have been criticised within the EU for adopting a pro-Israel stance without referencing the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip as a result of Israel’s retaliatory bombing campaign. The EP president reiterated the need to protect civilians and create humanitarian corridors in Gaza on Tuesday after her return from Israel.

The Maltese foreign minister said the EU’s foreign policy is articulated by External Relations Commissioner Josep Borrell, who condemned the Hamas attacks but also criticised Israel's response. Borrell did not visit Israel.

Israel has conducted a relentless bombing campaign on Gaza and blockaded the territory, preventing food, electricity, water and fuel from entering the zone and causing a humanitarian emergency.

“I've witnessed Borrell in action, during the ministerial meeting between the European Union and the Gulf Cooperation Council in Oman. Despite the 27 EU member states each having their own perspectives on the conflict, we still managed to establish a unified stance,” Borg explained.

He condemned Hamas’s actions in Israel and acknowledged Israel’s right to defend itself. But Borg insisted Israel had to respect international law.

READ ALSO: Malta abstains on Russian Security Council resolution calling for immediate ceasefire in Gaza

'Metsola posed with war criminals'

During the programme Metsola also came under fire from humanitarian and former journalist Karl Schembri, who said her statements gave Israel the carte blanche to commit murder.

“Roberta Metsola, who rightly refused to shake hands with former prime minister Joseph Muscat due to corruption, is now seen posing for pictures with war criminals,” Schembri said.

Schembri, who is based in Kenya, said he can understand the terror being experienced in Gaza at the moment because he lived there for some time, and his friends still live there.

“A humanitarian disaster, forewarned by Israel... We are witnessing a worsening of the daily struggles endured by Palestinians over the past six decades or so,” he said.

Schembri's main concern was how the European Union and its parliament president took a stance that seemed indifferent to the suffering of Gaza's people and the war crimes committed against them.

“I'm concerned that Gaza will be destroyed. I fear it could become another genocide in the ongoing suffering of the Palestinian people, and in a few months’ time, we might not have a Gaza or Palestinians left to discuss,” Schembri said.