A former German diplomat is being slammed for reportedly empowering Hamas to use paragliders, the very devices employed by the Palestinian outfit Hamas to invade Israel on October 7 and kill hundreds of people. Sven Kühn von Burgsdorff, the former European Union envoy to Gaza, now finds himself hot soup amid the Israel-Hamas war after the video resurfaced of him taking to the skies over Gaza in July.
In one of the videos making rounds on the internet, Burgsdorff can be seen conducting “the first Gaza paragliding flight in history” as he soared over Gaza’s coast while shouting, “Free Palestine.” The then-EU envoy told Palestinians that once they’re free, “You can do exactly the same thing.” However, such gliders were instead used by Hamas to kill Israelis on October 7, a large-scale attack that led to a full-fledged war.
The German diplomat & EU’s Ambassador to the Palestinians, Sven Kühn von Burgsdorff, performed the first paragliding flight ever in Gaza in July this year to “draw attention to Israel’s occupation of Gaza”He stated:
“I did this to prove that everything is possible in Gaza” pic.twitter.com/6yUaklgnCf
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) October 9, 2023
Israel has since declared war on Hamas and launched airstrikes on Gaza, prompting von Burgsdorff to rebuke the Jewish state. “It cannot be that Israel has carte blanche because terrible acts, cruel and shocking acts happened to 1,000 or even 1,200 Israelis,” von Burgsdorff said during a recent interview, according to the New York Post. “This is not the excuse you can use to flatten Gaza.”
After taking notice of Burgsdorff’s video, Israel condemned his comments as a form of “provocative” propaganda that only served to empower Hamas. “The European diplomat forgot a long time ago that he represents the European Union and its member states,” Israel’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
The war, which has now entered its third week, is the deadliest of five Gaza wars for both sides. On Sunday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said that the death toll in Gaza had reached at least 4,651 people, with another 14,254 people wounded. According to the Israeli military, more than 1,400 people on its side have been killed, in the initial Hamas attack. Moreover, 203 people were believed captured by Hamas during the incursion and taken into Gaza.
(With agency inputs)