Israel's Foreign Ministry condemned the statement of its Norwegian counterpart marking six months since the Hamas massacre of October 7.
"Even six months after the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, Norway - the only country among the like-minded countries that still maintains relations with the Hamas terrorist organization - continues its disproportionate and biased position that favors Hamas," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Lior Haiat.
"It is shocking that the murders, rapes, and other atrocities that the terrorists of Hamas committed did not change the Norwegian government’s position at all and that it still does not consider Hamas to be a terrorist organization," Haiat said.
"We searched the Norwegian statement and did not find a single reference to the horrific sexual crimes perpetrated by Hamas against Israeli women and men on October 7th, crimes recognized by the United Nations that continue to be committed against the men and women hostages who still remain in Hamas’ captivity six months later.
He stated that "Norway displays a lack of proportionality and double standards towards the State of Israel, which is doing what every democratic country is supposed to do to protect its citizens."
"The State of Israel will continue to protect its citizens and will continue to do so while adhering to international law. Israel will keep on striving acting to bring home the 133 hostages and to bring down the Hamas terrorist organization, so that October 7th will not be repeated," Haiat concluded.
On Sunday, April 7, Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said: "Rarely have six months been filled with so much unimaginable pain, anger and sorrow as the time after the terrorist attack on 7 October last year. For six months, Israeli families have mourned the losses they suffered when Hamas killed 1,100 Israelis and took 250 hostages. Families still live in fear of what has happened to those of the hostages still in Gaza."
He continued: "For six months, the Palestinians have lived in what must be described as hell on earth. Over 33,000 Palestinians have been killed, more than 13,000 of whom are children. Day after day, the people of Gaza have witnessed families destroyed, entire neighborhoods razed to the ground and untold numbers of people suffering the most horrific injuries. Injuries they will have to live with for the rest of their lives."
"For six months, the world community has witnessed aid workers in Gaza trying to ease the pain, trying to appease the hunger of children threatened by famine. They, too, have operated in constant danger to their lives. Few conflicts have claimed so many lives among those set to help," Eide said.
"For six months, we have stated clearly that the parties must follow the rules of war. We have always made it clear that self-defense measures must be necessary and proportionate, and that all military operations must be carried out in line with the international law of war. Norway was among the countries that early warned Israel against going too far," he said.
"Now, six months later, it is a tragic fact that far too little has been done to distinguish between civilians and combatants. Far too little has been done to get humanitarian aid into Gaza. Just when we thought it couldn't get any worse, crisis has been replaced by disaster.
"For six months we have witnessed a complete breakdown in compliance with the rules of humanitarian law. The war we have witnessed in the last six months undermines security and is very destructive for both Israelis and Palestinians. And that threatens stability in the entire Middle East.
Eide claimed that "the war cannot be solved by bombs and terror. Together with like-minded and several Arab countries, we are working to get this onto a different track - enough humanitarian aid into Gaza, a ceasefire and the release of the hostages, negotiations and then a two-state solution that gives the Palestinians a separate state and security for both peoples . That we succeed in this will be decisive, not only for people in Israel and in Palestine, but for all of us."