August 7, 2025 | 09:55 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A senior executive member of the European Union has stated that the expulsion and killing of Palestinians in Gaza is very similar to genocide. Teresa Ribera, a Spanish politician, is the first European Union commissioner to make such an accusation and openly oppose the body's position regarding genocide in Gaza.
"If it is not genocide, it looks very much like the definition used to express its meaning," said Teresa Ribera, the second-highest official in the European Commission, in an interview published on Thursday, August 7, 2025, as reported by Times of Israel.
Israel has repeatedly denied accusations of committing genocide in its war in Gaza. Israel's mission to the European Union did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Ribera is the vice president of the European Commission, ranking second to President Ursula von der Leyen. This Spanish socialist figure, whose portfolio includes climate and antitrust issues, is not responsible for the European Union's foreign policy.
"What we are seeing is a concrete population being targeted, killed and condemned to starve to death," Ribera told Politico.
The European Commission accuses Israel of violating human rights in Gaza, but stops short of accusing it of genocide.
Last week, the Commission proposed restricting Israel's access to its flagship research funding program following calls from European Union countries to increase pressure on Israel to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in the enclave.
In the proposal, the Commission stated that Israel had violated human rights clauses in the agreement governing its relationship with the European Union.
"With its intervention in the Gaza Strip and the ensuing humanitarian catastrophe, including thousands of civilian deaths and rapidly rising numbers of spreading extreme malnutrition, specifically of children, Israel is violating human rights and humanitarian law," the European Union wrote, as reported by the Globe and Mail.
Israel has rejected accusations of genocide, including a case brought by South Africa to the International Criminal Court in The Hague. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denounced the case as "outrageous."
The Gaza genocide began when Hamas attacked Israeli communities and military bases near Gaza on October 7, 2023. Around 1,200 people were killed, and 251 hostages were taken to Gaza. In a February interview, a former Israeli defense minister admitted that some of the casualties were caused by Israeli military attacks.
Israeli military retaliation has devastated the small, densely populated enclave, killing more than 61,100 people, mostly women and children.
Hospitals in Gaza reported four new deaths "due to hunger and malnutrition in the last 24 hours," according to the Ministry of Health in the enclave on Thursday, bringing the total number of deaths from hunger to 197, including 96 children.
The United Nations stated that Israel's blockade of Gaza since March 2 has endangered the lives of more than 100 premature babies, as fuel shortages hindered life-saving operations at hospitals.
Editor's Choice: Gaza Death Toll in Israeli Genocide Rises to 61,100, Including 193 Died of Starvation
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