Demonstrators lie on the ground as they take part in a protest performance in support of the Palestinian people in the territory of Gaza, under the slogan Stop genocide , at El Peine de los Vientos (The Comb of Wind) sculptural area in the Spanish Basque city of San Sebastian, on March 17, 2024. AFP
"Gaza was before the war the greatest open-air prison. Today it's the greatest open-air graveyard," Borrell said at a meeting of EU ministers in Brussels.
"It's a graveyard for tens of thousands of people and also a graveyard for many of the most important principles of humanitarian law."
Borrell also reiterated his accusation that Israel was using famine as a "weapon of war" by not allowing aid trucks into Gaza.
"Israel is provoking famine," he told a humanitarian conference.
The 27-nation EU has struggled to come up with a united response to the war in Gaza as some members firmly back Israel and others are more pro-Palestinian.
EU ministers were set to discuss a proposal by Ireland and Spain to suspend a cooperation agreement with Israel, but that move was unlikely to get the support of all 27 countries.
The bloc was however expected to agree on sanctions both against Hamas and against violent Israeli settlers in the West Bank for attacking Palestinians.
Britain and the United States have already imposed sanctions targeting a small number of extremist settlers.
Short link: