Speaking at the opening ceremony of the academic year at the Sciences Po university in Paris, European Commission Vice President Teresa Ribera became the first member of the bloc’s commission to publicly declare Israel’s war on Gaza a genocide, Al Jazeera reports.

“The genocide in Gaza exposes Europe’s failure to act and speak with one voice, even as protests spread across European cities and 14 UN Security Council members call for an immediate ceasefire,” Ribera said.

In August, Ribera, the European Commission’s second-most senior official, said Israel’s war on Gaza looks “very much like genocide”, but stopped short of declaring it one.