Last weekend’s Hamas attack was “an attack on everyone, not just Israel”, the Taoiseach has told The Pat Kenny Show.

Leo Varadkar insisted there is ‘no moral equivalence’ between the Hamas attacks which killed over 1,000 people in Israel and the Israeli response in recent days.

He said Israel “has a right to defend itself” – but expressed fear that its response would be “disproportionate”, with many Palestinian civilians killed.

Israeli authorities say at least 1,008 people were killed in the Hamas attack, with 3,418 people injured.

It is believed Hamas also took around 130 hostages back to Gaza after the attack.

Meanwhile, Gaza officials say the death toll from the ongoing Israeli airstrikes on Gaza has now reached at least 950.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health says more than 5,000 people have been injured in the air strikes on the city – 60% of whom are women and children.

Devastation in Gaza following Israeli airstrikes. Image: Imago / Alamy

On The Pat Kenny Show, the Taoiseach said Israel has a right to defend itself against attack.

“Attacks on civilians are always wrong,” he said. “They constitute war crimes.

“The taking of hostages, in my view, is always wrong, no matter who is doing it – whether it's here or abroad, whether it's the Israeli Government or Hamas and as an Irish Government we are very clear on that.”

Last weekend’s Hamas attack was “an attack on everyone, not just Israel”, the Taoiseach tells @PatKennyNT. pic.twitter.com/18zIjZMGLa

— NewstalkFM (@NewstalkFM) October 11, 2023

The Israeli flag is projected on the walls of Jerusalem's Old City near the Jaffa Gate following the Hamas attack, 10-10-2023. Image: Nir Alon / Alamy

He said he was “horrified” to see the Hamas attack unfold on Saturday.

“Let's not forget, Hamas didn't just attack Israel,” he said. “It killed and took hostage citizens of countries from all over the world – from Thailand to America to the UK.

“One of our own citizens is unaccounted for at the moment, so Hamas’s attack was an attack on everyone, not just Israel.

“I believe Israel has a right to defend itself; it's surrounded by enemies who want to destroy it – but it has to do so in a way that is proportionate.”

Kim Damti. Image: Facebook

He said the devastation in Gaza from the Israeli air strikes is “not quite on the same scale” as that seen in Chechnya or Syria after Russia’s attacks.

“But I do fear that the response from Israel will be disproportionate,” he said. “That many Palestinians civilians will be killed, will be injured, will suffer – and we're calling for restraint.”

He said the leadership in both countries will need to take ‘big risks’ if peace is to be achieved in the region – but warned, “I don't see that at the moment in either the Israeli or Palestinian leadership and that's very sad”.

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