Senior EU official accuses 'Israel' of genocide in Gaza
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EU Commission Vice President Teresa Ribera says the killing and starvation in Gaza "looks very much like genocide," breaking with the EU’s official stance.
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European Commission Executive Vice President for a Clean, Just and Competitive Transition, Teresa Ribera, speaks during a press conference on her two-day official visit to China, in Beijing on July 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)
A senior member of the European Commission has said the displacement and killing of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip "looks very much like genocide," becoming the first EU official to publicly diverge from the bloc’s official position on the war.
"If it is not genocide, it looks very much like the definition used to express its meaning," said Teresa Ribera, the European Commission’s Executive Vice President, in an interview with Politico published Thursday.
Ribera, a Spanish socialist and the Commission’s second-highest-ranking official, does not hold a foreign policy portfolio, instead overseeing climate and anti-trust matters. Nonetheless, her remarks mark a rare and significant breach from the European Commission’s cautious language regarding the war on Gaza.
While the European Commission has accused "Israel" of human rights violations in Gaza, it has avoided using the term genocide. Ribera’s statement reflects growing tension within European political circles over the EU’s stance on "Israel’s" actions in Gaza. "What we are seeing is a concrete population being targeted, killed, and condemned to starve to death," Ribera said, describing the ongoing aggression on the Strip.
Global pressure on 'Israel' increases
Cited in Politico's report, her comments come amid a mounting death toll and deepening humanitarian catastrophe, with much of Gaza’s civilian infrastructure in ruins and access to food, water, and medical care severely limited.
"Israel" has repeatedly rejected accusations of genocide in its war on Gaza, which began in October 2023. Its mission to the EU has not yet responded to Ribera’s comments.
The remarks also come as global pressure intensifies on Western states to reassess their political and military support for “Israel,” particularly amid international legal proceedings and widespread calls for accountability over alleged war crimes in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Ribera’s statement may increase scrutiny of the EU leadership, particularly Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who has been criticized for perceived alignment with “Israel’s” narrative during the conflict.
Europe shifts views on 'Israel' as Gaza war intensifies
It is worth recalling that in a report two months back, an excerpt from the WorldView newsletter for the Washington Post (WP), Ishaan Tharoor argued that Europe’s political stance toward "Israel's" "war on Gaza" is undergoing a visible shift, with European leaders taking a more critical stance on "Israel".
As public outrage over "Israel’s" military campaign, mounting Palestinian casualties, and the deepening humanitarian crisis continues, calls for accountability by traditionally allied European states have become prevalent.
This shift in Europe's stance on "Israel" shows a rare break in decades of EU diplomatic alignment with Tel Aviv, as shown by French President Emmanuel Macron, who warned at the time that the West's credibility on Ukraine is being undermined by its perceived double standards on Gaza.
According to Tharoor, while reaffirming condemnation of Al-Aqsa Flood, Macron cautioned that the failure to hold "Israel" accountable risks damaging the legitimacy of European foreign policy, stating that, “if we abandon Gaza... we kill our own credibility in the rest of the world.”
