A senior European Union official has, for the first time, described Israel’s war on Gaza as genocide. European Commission Vice President Teresa Ribera made the statement during the opening ceremony of the academic year at Sciences Po University in Paris, criticizing Europe’s inability to take a united stance despite widespread protests and calls from 14 U.N. Security Council members for a ceasefire.
Earlier in August, Ribera had suggested that Israel’s actions “look very much like genocide” but had stopped short of using the term outright.
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Her latest remarks come just days after the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS), the world’s largest academic body in the field, passed a resolution affirming that Israel’s actions meet the legal definition of genocide under Article II of the 1948 U.N. Convention.
The resolution, backed by 86 percent of IAGS’s 500 members, called on Israel to immediately end killings of civilians, starvation, denial of aid, forced displacement, and other acts it described as genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. It also urged Israel to halt the destruction of essential infrastructure and the targeting of children and families.
Since October 2023, more than 64,000 Palestinians, including children, have been killed in Gaza, with many more buried under rubble, according to reports. The Israeli Defence Force has destroyed most buildings in the enclave, forcing nearly all residents to flee their homes.
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A global hunger monitor used by the United Nations has warned that parts of Gaza are now suffering from man-made famine.
