Israel must know there are limits to right to self-defense: Ex-Austrian president

ATHENS

Israel must know there are limits to its right to self-defense, a former Austrian president said on Monday, referring to Tel Aviv's military campaign in the Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 24,000 Palestinians and reduced almost the entire enclave to rubble.

“Israel naturally has the right to defend itself after Hamas's gigantic and unforgivable crimes on Oct. 7, 2023, but there are also limits and international law that must be observed for the self-defense,” Heinz Fischer told the state-run Austria Press Agency.

“A Palestinian mother weeps for her killed child just as much as an Israeli mother weeps for hers. When I think about it, I think that the United Nations is right when it calls for compliance with international law and human rights. Especially when people, namely the civilian population, cannot flee the Gaza Strip," he added.

Fischer said Austria voting against the UN resolution for an immediate humanitarian cease-fire in the Gaza Strip in mid-December was a mistake.

"With its 'no', Austria voted together with Israel and the US, but differently from Germany, France, Great Britain, Switzerland, Sweden, Finland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the remaining EU states with the exception of the Czech Republic. This caused a lot of astonishment and frowning both in Austria and internationally,” he said.

The resolution was result of the intensive efforts within the UN and contained many extremely important and correct demands, Fischer added.

Israel declared war on Hamas after the group's Oct. 7 cross-border offensive, believed to have killed 1,200 people and taking a further 240 hostage.

Israel’s bombardment of Gaza has so far killed more than 24,000 people, most of them women and children, and displaced 1.9 million of the enclave’s more than 2.2 million inhabitants. The attacks have also led to acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine.

WHO chief Tedros Ghebreyesus​​​​​​​ said on Sunday that "people in Gaza are living in hell" and "nowhere is safe."