Busuttil: Israel's 'licence to kill' cannot be tolerated by EU

He was intervening in a plenary debate taking place in the European Parliament yesterday on the recent attacks by Israel on the flotilla of ships that sought to transport humanitarian aid to Gaza.

In his intervention, Simon Busuttil joined several MEPs who condemned Israel’s recent attack on the flotilla as a disproportionate action and a blatant violation of international law.

Busuttil said that all those who yearned for moderation in this Middle East peace process accepted Israel’s right to protect its citizens. However, this particular Israel action which left innocent people dead could never be justified because it was disproportionate and illegal.

“… this attitude on Israel’s part, that it has some special license to kill whomsover and whenever it wants, is an attitude that can no longer be tolerated by the EU,” Busuttil said.

Busuttil supported calls for an independent inquiry to establish facts and to assign responsibility where it lay.