Israel financed the creation of the Palestinian group Hamas, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said Friday.
Opponents of the Israeli government and some global media have accused the Netanyahu government of boosting Gaza rulers Hamas for years, including by allowing Qatari financing of Gaza.
"Yes, Hamas was financed by the government of Israel in an attempt to weaken the Palestinian Authority led by Fatah," Borrell said in a speech at the University of Valladolid in Spain without elaborating.
Borrell added the only peaceful solution included the creation of a Palestinian state.
"We only believe a two-state solution imposed from the outside would bring peace even though Israel insists on the negative," he said.
Hamas carried out a cross-border attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7. The Israeli government launched ruthless attacks in retaliation, in which more than 24,700 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have since been killed.
Hamas has run the Gaza Strip since 2007 after a brief civil war with forces loyal to the Fatah movement led by President Mahmoud Abbas, who is based in the West Bank and also heads the Palestine Liberation Organization.
Israel is currently facing a "genocide" case brought to the U.N. court by South Africa due to its attacks in Gaza – which are repeatedly described as a breach of international laws by the U.N. Tel Aviv, however, denies accusations of genocide by claiming that it is only trying to protect its people.
According to the U.N., 85% of the population of Gaza is already internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine.
