ANKARA

The EU is dismayed by the civilian deaths in Gaza and calls for an immediate end to the violence, the foreign minister of the bloc's current term president, Portugal, said on Tuesday.

"We understand Israel's right to protect its civilian population. Nevertheless, we expect its response to be proportionate," Augusto Santos Silva said in an address to the European Parliament.

Condemning the "rocket attacks launched from Gaza" amid the recent escalation in violence, Silva stressed that the fighting "must stop. It must stop immediately."

"The priority now must be immediate de-escalation in order to protect civilian lives," he asserted, calling on all parties to comply with international law and humanitarian access.

Silva also voiced concern on the situation in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of occupied East Jerusalem, where tensions remain high since early May when an Israeli court ordered the expulsion of Palestinian families, which was later delayed.

"Such actions are illegal in international law, and only fuel tensions on the grounds," he cautioned.

Also concerned by the clashes in Haram al-Sharif, the area in East Jerusalem surrounding the Al-Aqsa Mosque where Israeli forces have staged attacks in recent weeks, he said: "All sides must uphold and fully respect the status of the holy sites."

"Freedom of worship and peaceful freedom of assembly must be guaranteed," Silva added

At least 217 Palestinians have been killed, including 63 children and 36 women, and 1,500 others injured in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip since May 10, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

Also, 12 Israelis have reportedly been killed in Palestinian rocket fire from the Gaza Strip.

The recent tensions that started in East Jerusalem during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan spread to Gaza as a result of Israeli assaults on worshippers in the flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. It annexed the entire city in 1980 in a move never recognized by the international community.