Multiple EU foreign ministers expressed their horror at the humanitarian situation in Gaza and called on Israel and the Palestinian Islamist Hamas movement to agree to a ceasefire.
“This is essentially now a war against Palestinians, not just against Hamas,” Irish Foreign Minister Micheál Martin said, describing the civilian casualties as “unconscionable.”
“The immense suffering of the civilian population in Gaza must end,” Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström said.
Belgian Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib described the fighting in Gaza as a “tragedy, a humanitarian catastrophe” and warned about violence escalating in the West Bank.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock joined calls for a ceasefire and said the situation in the West Bank “must not be allowed to explode.”
Sigrid Kaag, a senior United Nations official coordinating humanitarian efforts in Gaza said the destruction and human suffering has not been “seen in the 21st century to this extent.”
