Senior EU Official Criticizes Israel’s Actions in Gaza as ‘Genocide’

Brussels: A senior EU official stated on Thursday that Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip 'look very much like' genocide. 'What we are seeing is a concrete population being targeted, killed and condemned to starve to death. A concrete population is confined, with no homes - being destroyed - no food, water or medicines - being forbidden to access - and subject to bombing and shooting even when they are trying to get humanitarian aid. Any humanity is absent, and no witness[es] are allowed," European Commission Executive Vice President Teresa Ribera told Politico. According to Palestine News and Information Agency - WAFA, Ribera expressed that the EU should contemplate suspending the EU-Israel Association Agreement. She suggested that EU countries opposed to measures against Israel register their objection by abstaining from any votes on EU actions, allowing the majority to pass them swiftly. Ribera emphasized that consensus is not always about unanimity in enthusiasm but about finding room to move forward whi le acknowledging the concerns of those who feel cornered. She proposed that a 'non-objection' decision could be constructive in achieving those goals. Ribera highlighted the need for unanimity within the EU to impose sanctions. However, she warned that if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took full control of the Gaza Strip, the international community should have the means to encourage a return to compliance. She criticized the actions and statements of Israeli authorities, stating they exceed the limits of international law. The EU official warned of potential damage to the EU's credibility due to inaction, stressing the importance of showing that Europe is not just a set of institutions but a political and moral project with the courage to respond when human lives are at stake. The conflict escalated when Israel unilaterally ended the Gaza ceasefire agreement and resumed aggression on March 18, conducting airstrikes that resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians. The death toll has reac hed at least 9,752, with 40,004 others wounded, according to medical sources. Over the past 24 hours, Gaza hospitals admitted the bodies of 100 slain Palestinians, including two retrieved from the rubble, and 603 casualties. Since October 2023, Israel's military actions have claimed the lives of 61,258 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured 152,045 others. Additionally, at least 10,000 people are presumed dead under the rubble of their homes across the Strip. The aggression has forcibly displaced nearly two million people from the Gaza Strip, with the majority relocated to the densely populated southern city of Rafah near the Egyptian border. This mass displacement marks the largest since the 1948 Nakba.