EU says Israel's Gaza City assault spells 'death', 'destruction'

The European Union warned Tuesday that Israel's ground assault on Gaza City will add to the toll of death and destruction, and worsen an already "catastrophic" humanitarian situation in the territory.

"The EU has consistently urged Israel not to intensify its operation in Gaza City," EU spokesman Anouar El Anouni said.  

"A military intervention will lead to more destruction, more death and more displacement, and we have been clear that this will also aggravate the already catastrophic humanitarian situation and also endanger the lives of hostages," he said. 

Israel launched its long-anticipated ground assault on Gaza City before dawn Tuesday, unleashing a massive bombardment as troops moved into the territory's largest urban hub. 

Brussels is expected to put forward proposals for a raft of measures against Israel over the war in Gaza. 

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said last week they would include suspending the trade parts of a cooperation agreement and sanctioning "extremist" Israeli ministers. 

But it will be very difficult to get the measures through given deep divisions between the European Union's 27 countries over Israel's war in Gaza.

The war was sparked by Hamas' October 2023 attack on Israel that resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally of official figures.

Israel's retaliatory campaign in Gaza has killed at least 64,905 people, also mostly civilians, according to figures from the territory's health ministry that the United Nations considers reliable.

UN investigators on Tuesday accused Israel of committing "genocide" in Gaza in a bid to "destroy the Palestinians", blaming Israel's prime minister and other top officials for incitement.

UN rights chief demands end to 'carnage'

The UN rights chief condemned Israel's ground assault on Gaza City as "utterly unacceptable", demanding an end to the "carnage" and warning of growing evidence of genocide in the Palestinian territory.

"It is absolutely clear that this carnage must stop," United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk told AFP and Reuters when asked about the launch of Israel's long-anticipated ground assault on Gaza's largest city.

"The whole world screams for peace. Palestinians, Israelis scream for peace. Everyone wants an end to this, and what we see is a further escalation which is totally and utterly unacceptable," he said.

Turk highlighted that in recent days "we have seen expanding attacks in the northwestern parts of Gaza, where the population had sought shelter from previous attacks."

He decried in particular "the ongoing bombardment of residential buildings, buildings that have served as shelters for people who have been displaced multiple times".

"These attacks need to stop."

He pointed out that the Israeli military "repeatedly claimed that it is targeting so-called terrorist infrastructure".

"So far, we haven't seen any evidence of this," he stressed, emphasising that "under the rules of war, an attack may never be targeted at civilians who are not taking part in hostilities."

The UN rights chief stressed that "the people of Gaza cannot sustain yet another intensification of violence and destruction and killings and lack of humanitarian assistance that needs to come."

"I can only think of what it means for women, malnourished children, for people with disabilities, if they are again attacked in this way," he said.

Turk's comments came after an independent team of UN investigators published a report concluding that Israel was committing genocide in its war in Gaza, which erupted following Hamas's October 7, 2023, attack inside Israel.

"We see the piling up of war crime after war crime after war crime, of crime against humanity, and potentially even more," Turk said said.

"It's for the court to decide whether it's genocide or not, and we see the evidence mounting."