GAZA CITY: Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Thursday became the most prominent European leader to describe the situation in Gaza as a "genocide", as rescuers in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory said Israeli forces killed 35 people.
After more than 20 months of devastating conflict, rights groups say Gaza's population of more than two million face famine-like conditions.
Israel began allowing supplies to trickle in at the end of May following a blockade of more than two months, but distribution has been marred by chaotic scenes and near-daily reports of Israeli forces firing on those waiting to pick up rations.
Israel meanwhile is pressing its bombardment of the Palestinian territory, in a military offensive it says is aimed at defeating Hamas – whose unprecedented October 2023 attack on Israel triggered the war.
Spain's Sanchez on Thursday said Gaza was in a "catastrophic situation of genocide" and urged the European Union to immediately suspend its cooperation deal with Israel.
The comments represent the strongest condemnation to date by Sanchez, an outspoken critic of Israel's offensive who is one of the first European leaders, and the most senior, to use the term "genocide" to describe the situation in Gaza.
Speaking ahead of an EU summit in Brussels, Sanchez mentioned a recent human rights report by the EU's diplomatic service which found "indications" that Israel was breaching its human rights obligations under the cooperation deal, which forms the basis for trade ties.
The text cited Israel's blockade of humanitarian aid for the Palestinian territory, the high number of civilian casualties, attacks on journalists and the massive displacement and destruction caused by the war.
On the ground in Gaza, the spokesman for Gaza's civil defence agency, Mahmud Bassal, told AFP that Israeli forces killed 35 more people on Thursday in various locations across the territory, including four who were waiting to collect aid.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment, saying it required further information.
Israel began its offensive Gaza to destroy Hamas and rescue hostages seized by fighters during the Oct 7, 2023 attack, which resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
