The Hamas terrorist attack on Israel that’s brought a war has also raised worries that it will result in refugees fleeing the Palestinian territory and many wanting to reach Greece, which has been trying to keep out those from other countries.

Migration Minister Dimitris Keridis said the fighting has Greece readying for a wave of arrivals from the Gaza Strip ahead of what’s expected to be an Israeli invasion in a search for hostages taken by the terrorists.

Keridis said, “As if the multitude of flashpoints in northern Africa and Syria were not pushing thousands of migrants and refugees to Europe already, now this,” reported The Voice of America.

https://www.voanews.com/a/greece-warns-israel-hamas-war-will-add-migration-pressure/7305212.html

Greece’s New Democracy government has been trying to keep out refugees and migrants but denied persistent claims of pushing them back at land and on the sea, most coming from Turkey where they went fleeing war, strife and economic hardship in their homelands.

While a 2016 swap deal with the European Union that’s essentially suspended has seen a slowdown in arrivals after hundreds of thousands began coming in 2015, the numbers have picked up again.

He said that escalating violence in the Middle East could see another surge in refugees trying to reach the EU – which closed its borders to them – and Greece a likely destination for many.

Palestinians already were the biggest category trying to reach Europe, driven previously by violence in the West Bank as that part of the Middle East is at risk of coming apart in troubles.

United Nations data showed that Palestinians account for 22 percent of illegal entries to Greece, followed by Afghans, Somalis and Syrians, the report said, Keridis telling a broadcaster migration pressures are certain to rise.

He said that even if Israel succeeds in its bid to regain control of Gaza, reseal its borders from Hamas or even destroy the terrorist organization that there will still be a flow of refugees and Greece is a preferred spot.

He said a military option must be coupled with a deal to resolve the Palestinian crisis because left unsolved, or without some framework of a settlement, crises of this type will continue erupting, said VOA.

Greece had joined with Cyprus, Italy, Malta and Spain – the other spots most refugees seek – in demanding more funding from the European Union to deal with rising illegal migration but no consensus was reached.

Stefanos Kasselakis, leader of Greece’s major opposition SYRIZA, said that Greece’s government “must take the initiative to support the victims of the war, offering care to Palestinian and Israeli wounded in Greek hospitals and coordinating the accommodation of families who leave their homes.”