Belgium’s Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot has said that “only the word genocide” can describe Israel’s actions in Gaza, Al Jazeera reports.

“As the foreign minister, it is not up to me to make such statements. But my personal opinion is that this is very close to genocide. I don’t know what other horrors have yet to occur before that word can be used,” Prevot in said in an interview with Humo magazine.

He said he felt “very angry” seeing images of death, destruction, and hunger coming out of Gaza.

“I have been saying since April that the humanitarian blockade is an absolute disgrace. Deliberately starving a population is a war crime,” he said.

“I am in favour of sanctions against the military and political leaders on both sides and against the Jewish settlers who are forcibly evicting the Palestinians from their homes in the West Bank,” he said.

“It is no longer enough for the Belgian government to condemn the situation; actions are needed to make Israel move.”