EU top diplomat calls for suspension of political dialogue with Israel

The European Union's outgoing top diplomat Josep Borrell said Monday he had "no more words" to describe the situation in the Middle East, before chairing his last planned meeting of the bloc's foreign ministers.

"I exhausted the words to explain what's happening in the Middle East," Borrell told reporters, barely concealing his frustration at the EU's failure to weigh on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict during his five-year mandate.

"There is no more words," he said. "It's about 44,000 people killed in Gaza, the whole area is being destroyed, and 70 percent of the people being killed are women or children."

"The most frequent ages of casualties are children below nine years old," said the 77-year-old foreign policy chief.

Borrell confirmed he would urge ministers Monday to suspend a political dialogue with Israel -- part of a wider agreement governing trade ties -- over the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

But the proposal is expected to be given short shrift by numerous member states including key powers France and Germany, as well as Italy and the Netherlands.

Since Israel unleashed its devastating offensive in Gaza in retaliation for the unprecedented October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas, the EU's member states have been deeply divided over the conflict.

Borrell has often been an outlier in denouncing Israel's excesses.

On Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Borrell likewise voiced his frustration at the shortcomings in the European response as the conflict on its doorstep reaches its 1,000th day.

"Too many times we haven't been united. Too many times discussions took too long," Borrell said.

"My last call to my colleagues will be: Be more united, take decisions quicker," he said. "Russia is not stopping the war because you are thinking about it."

"You cannot pretend to be a geopolitical power if you are taking days and weeks and months to reach agreements in order to act," warned Borrell, who is due to hand over to his designated successor, former Estonian prime minister Kaja Kallas, in December.