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Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó traveled to Israel early morning on Wednesday, where he met with Israel’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Israel Katz, Minister of Energy Eli Cohen, and Ron Dehmer, Minister of Strategic Affairs.
Following his talks with his colleague, the minister said that Israel had suffered a terrorist attack 103 days ago that killed thousands of people and hundreds of others were captured by Hamas. The success of the resulting counter-terrorism operation is in the interest of the whole world.
On the Israeli army’s counter-terrorism operation, he noted that to accuse a country of genocide that “faced a hellish terrorist attack is obviously nonsense.” He added that “To an outside observer, from hundreds or thousands of kilometers away, this may look like a geopolitical issue, an armed conflict that has to be resolved somehow, but if you come here, you see thousands and tens of thousands of human tragedies.”
Foreign Ministers Péter Szijjártó and Yisrael Katz. Photo: Facebook
He stressed that Hungary stands by Israel in international forums where it is attacked for its anti-terrorist operations.
The first priority, he said, is to support the success of the counter-terrorism operations, as this would provide an opportunity for a return to normalization in the Middle East, to the path of the so-called Abraham Accords which brought hope to the region for peace after decades of inefficiency. One of the aims of the attacks on Israel was to halt this process and further poison relations here in the region, he pointed out.
Mr. Szijjártó underlined that if Hezbollah’s withdrawal from the Israeli-Lebanese border is not achieved, there is a serious risk of escalating the conflict.
In addition to containing the escalation, Mr. Szijjártó said that another important task was to free the hostages as soon as possible.
Péter Szijjártó talking with freed hostages. Photo: Facebook
The minister recalled that the original five hostages of Hungarian nationality, are still being held by the terrorists, while three others have already managed to return home and one has passed away. He stressed that the government is doing its utmost to ensure his repatriation and remains in contact with the Qatari authorities, who are playing an essential role in mediating between the parties.
“Let us hope that the conflict in the Middle East will not escalate and there will not be a security risk that threatens to start a third world war, and let us not forget that we (Hungarians) live in the neighborhood of such a risk, and if the war in Ukraine and the conflict in the Middle East escalate, God save the world from the consequences,” the Foreign Minister concluded.
Via MTI; Featured Image: Facebook / Szijjártó Péter