Destruction in Gaza 'comparable, if not higher,' to WWII Germany, says EU foreign policy chief

GENEVA

The head of EU foreign policy on Friday compared widespread destruction caused by Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip to the devastation of German cities during World War II, saying it could be even "higher."

Talking to Spanish state broadcaster RTVE, Josep Borrell said the bombing campaign in the Palestinian enclave was already "one of the most intense in history" and denounced the level of destruction of its cities as "comparable, if not higher, to levels of destruction of German cities during the Second World War."

Borrell also said he hopes Europe will take measures to "stop the violence against Palestinians in the occupied areas," referring to the West Bank and East Jerusalem, where at least 271 have been killed in attacks by Israeli soldiers and settlers since Oct. 7, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

He warned that the recent surge in violence in those areas has allowed an expansion of the Israeli occupation, now "four times greater than it was 30 years ago when the Oslo Accords were signed."

Borrell added that the current situation was making a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict "much more difficult."

In 1993, the umbrella Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Israel signed the Oslo Accords, which gave Palestinians a form of civil rule. Negotiations, however, failed to complete a peace agreement leading to the establishment of a Palestinian state.

US-sponsored peace negotiations between the Palestinians and Israelis collapsed in April 2014 as Tel Aviv refused to stop settlement building and release Palestinian detainees imprisoned before 1993.