Israel’s military campaign in Gaza “looks like genocide,” says the European Commission’s second-highest ranking official.
Teresa Ribera, the European Commission’s Executive Vice President, went further in condemning Israel’s actions than the European bloc’s position so far on the conflict.
“What we are seeing is a concrete population being targeted, killed and condemned to starve to death,” Ms Ribera told Politico in an interview published on Thursday.
“If it is not genocide, it looks very much like the definition used to express its meaning.”
Israel has repeatedly rejected accusations of carrying out genocide in its war in Gaza.
The latest conflict was triggered when Hamas-led terrorists attacked Israeli communities and military bases near Gaza on October 7, 2023.
About 1,200 people, including more than 700 civilians, were killed, and 251 hostages were taken to Gaza.
Israel’s military response has devastated the tiny, crowded enclave, killing more than 61,000 people, mostly civilians including thousands of children, according to Palestinian health authorities.
Israel has repeatedly said its actions in Gaza are justified as self-defence and accuses Hamas of using civilians as human shields, a charge the terror group denies.
Israel has rejected accusations of genocide, including a case brought by South Africa at the International Court of Justice in the Hague that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned as “outrageous”.
But its actions in Gaza, which have led to “starvation” in the besieged strip as the humanitarian crisis has spiralled, has sparked growing outrage.
Sir Keir Starmer has said Britain will recognise a Palestinian state in September unless Israel meets four conditions including ending the “starvation” by allowing in far more aid, a ceasefire, and moves towards a two-state solution.
But Mr Netanyahu has signalled wider military action in Gaza despite Israeli defence chiefs said to be opposed to the move which families of hostages still being held fear will put their loved ones in greater danger.
Former Israeli army and intelligence chiefs have also called for an end to the nearly 22-month war.
Videos of two emaciated Israeli hostages being held by Hamas triggered scathing condemnation of the terror organisation.
Donald Trump, asked whether he supported the reoccupation of Gaza, said he wasn’t aware of the “suggestion” but that “it’s going to be pretty much up to Israel”.
Spanish socialist Ms Ribera, whose portfolio includes climate and anti-trust issues, is not responsible for EU foreign policy.
She is second only in seniority at the Commission to President Ursula von der Leyen.
Her statements went further than the European Commission, which has accused Israel of violating human rights in Gaza, but stopped short of accusing it of genocide.
The Commission last week proposed curbing Israeli access to its flagship research funding programme after calls from EU countries to increase pressure on Israel to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in the enclave.
In that proposal, the Commssion said Israel had violated a human rights clause in an agreement that governs its relations with the EU.
“With its intervention in the Gaza Strip and the ensuing humanitarian catastrophe, including thousands of civilian deaths and rapidly rising numbers of spreading extreme malnutrition, specifically of children, Israel is violating human rights and humanitarian law,” it wrote.
