Jerusalem hails European condemnation of Hamas violence; EU condemns rocket fire, calls for renunciation of violence. Israel received a strong back-wind from an unlikely source on Tuesday, when the EU issued a statement strongly denouncing Hamas and condemning their use of civilians as human shields. The EU's foreign ministers, following a monthly meeting in Brussels, issued a statement on the Middle East condemning the indiscriminate firing of rockets into Israel by Hamas and militant groups in the Gaza Strip, directly harming civilians.