On Monday, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell described the situation in Gaza as “catastrophic and horrific,” with relatively “greater” destruction than what Germany witnessed during World War II.

After chairing a meeting of European Union foreign ministers, Borrell said that the Israeli army's response to the attacks launched by Hamas on October 7 led to an "incredible number of civilian casualties."

He also expressed the European Union's "concern" about the violence of extremist settlers in the West Bank, and condemned the Israeli government's approval of the construction of 1,700 new housing units in Jerusalem, which Brussels considers a violation of international law.

While noting that the Hamas attacks reinforced the European Union's decision to include it on the list of terrorist organizations, Borrell stressed that he considered the Israeli military operation disproportionate in terms of civilian deaths and damage to civilian property and infrastructure.

“Human suffering poses an unprecedented challenge to the international community,” Borrell said.

According to figures from the Ministry of Health in Gaza, “civilians constitute between 60 and 70 percent of all martyrs,” and “85 percent of the population has been internally displaced.”

Borrell said, “The destruction caused to buildings in Gaza...is somewhat greater than the destruction inflicted on German cities during World War II,” if estimated relatively.

He said that he presented to the foreign ministers of European Union countries a discussion paper to consider “imposing sanctions against extremist settlers in the West Bank” whose attacks against Palestinian residents have increased in intensity.

He indicated that he would soon turn the paper into an official proposal, based on an initiative taken by the United States, which announced last week that it would refuse to grant visas to extremist Israeli settlers.

But he acknowledged that there is no consensus yet on the issue among the governments of European Union countries.

(AFP)