“Poland was, is, and will remain on Israel’s side in its confrontation with Islamic terrorism - but never on the side of politicians whose actions lead to hunger and the deaths of mothers and children,” Tusk wrote on social media.
“This must be self-evident for nations that have lived through the hell of World War Two together,” he clarified in a comment on his profile on X (formerly Twitter).
The statement followed public debate in Poland over comments made by Thomas Rose, President Trump’s nominee to be U.S. Ambassador to Poland, regarding Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski.
In a recent appearance on the Polish news outlet Onet.pl’s programme Raport Międzynarodowy, Sikorski remarked: “Starving children in Gaza don’t know what Hamas is. Israel, even when acting in self-defence, is not exempt from respecting international law.”
In response, Rose wrote: “Dear Mr. Minister, Your question underscores just how morally unprecedented this situation is.”
The diplomat argued that Israel’s conduct was without historical parallel, stating: “History offers no precedent where a terrorist group wages war for the explicit annihilation of a sovereign state, embeds itself among civilians, and then relies on that very state to supply it with food, water, and fuel.”
According to the ambassador-designate, Israel was not acting like “the tyrants of history,” but rather providing humanitarian aid “to its mortal enemy” despite immense risks - not out of obligation, but “because it is a Jewish state committed to basic moral standards.”
Drawing a parallel, Rose asked: “Should Ukraine send convoys of aid while under fire to feed Russian civilians in occupied Donbas or Crimea? Would Poland?”
Such expectations, he concluded, are “absurd demands,” yet “Israel faces them daily.”
At least 23 Palestinians killed near food distribution points, AP reports
According to the Associated Press, citing local health officials and witnesses, Israeli forces shot and killed at least 23 Palestinians on Sunday near aid distribution sites in Gaza.
Internally displaced elderly Palestinian man Salim Asfour (R) sits next to his family inside their ent in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, 03 August 2025. Salim, 85, suffers from severe malnutrition, which in recent months has led to the loss of over 40 kilograms of his body weight.
The shootings reportedly occurred in areas of the war-torn and famine-stricken enclave where civilians had gathered in search of food.
The war in Gaza began on 7 October 2023, when Hamas launched a surprise assault on southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people - mostly civilians - and abducting 251 others. Since then, Israel’s military campaign has killed more than 60,000 people in the territory, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
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Source: AP/AFP/X/@donaldtusk/@TomRoseIndy/@AFP/@TRyanGregory