The European Commission’s second-most senior official has said Israel’s assault in Gaza looks “very much like genocide”, marking the first time an executive of the body has used that term, Al Jazeera reports.

“If it is not genocide, it looks very much like the definition used to express its meaning,” European Commission Vice-President Teresa Ribera told Politico magazine. “What we are seeing is a concrete population being targeted, killed and condemned to starve to death.”

While the European Commission has previously accused Israel of human rights abuses in Gaza, it has so far stopped short of labelling its actions genocide.

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