Ursula von der Leyen and Roberta Metzola, presidents of two of the most important EU institutions, visited Israel today to express their solidarity with the country after the attacks by Hamas.

The president of the European Commission and the president of the European Parliament arrived in Israel shortly before noon on Friday.

“I arrived in Israel with the President of the European Parliament to express our solidarity with the Israeli people after the terrible terrorist attack by Hamas”, wrote the President of the Commission on the social network X. She added that “we are here with a message of solidarity.

For her part, the president of the European Parliament posted that “we are here with a message of solidarity after the worst terrorist attack Israel has suffered in generations. Terror will not prevail. How we react matters. We can – must – stop Hamas. And to do everything we can to mitigate the humanitarian consequences.”

The two presidents’ visit to Israel comes six days after Hamas launched a surprise land, sea and air attack on Israel that left more than 1,300 dead.