With public anger mounting across Europe over the war in Gaza, the struggle to agree on the wording condemning Israel's military actions is testing the EU's ability to speak with one voice.

The president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, said the EU institution is discussing whether to condemn Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip as genocide in an upcoming resolution on the situation in Gaza.

'This is something that is being negotiated in the resolution right now,' she told the European Newsroom (enr) when asked in an interview in Strasbourg on Tuesday. On Thursday, the Parliament will vote on a resolution calling for EU action to combat famine in Gaza, as well as the release of hostages and progress towards a two-state solution.

'There are some colleagues, and this is a reflection also of the member states, who say that this is a legal word that is used, and others who say the opposite,' Metsola said. 'We will see what is the outcome of the negotiation on the resolution and the vote on Thursday,' she added.

The United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide states that genocide is the deliberate targeting of population groups that differ from others in language, religion, or tradition, with the aim of destroying them in whole or in part.

In addition to killings, this includes acts that cause serious physical or mental harm, as well as the imposition of living conditions that could lead to the group's physical destruction.

The convention also classifies the deliberate prevention of births or the abduction of children as genocide.

The attacks led by the Islamist terrorist group Hamas on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which left around 1,200 people dead and more than 250 hostages abducted triggered Israel's military campaign in Gaza. Since then, according to the Hamas-controlled health authority in the Gaza Strip, more than 64,500 Palestinians have been killed in the densely populated coastal area.

Israel has rejected allegations that its campaign amounts to genocide.

EU Commissioner comments spark internal spat

Last week, European Commissioner Teresa Ribera characterised Israel's military actions in the Gaza Strip as 'genocide', highlighting what she called 'Europe's failure' to act collectively and speak with one voice.

'The genocide in Gaza exposes Europe's failure to act and speak with one voice even as protest spread across European cities and 14 United Nations Security Council members called for an immediate ceasefire,' Ribera said.

The statement immediately sparked controversy.

The European Commission under the leadership of Ursula von der Leyen quickly distanced itself from Ribera's use of the term, emphasising that she was not speaking on behalf of the EU's executive arm when making the remarks.

The Commission had no position on the question of genocide as it was up to the courts to decide, a spokeswoman said.

Backing EU citizens' calls for action

Metsola emphasised that the worsening situation in Gaza is 'a dominant concern of our citizens' as well as of members of the European Parliament representing them. 'And they want answers' from the Commission as well as from member state governments, she said.

'Very clearly we are the number one provider of humanitarian aid and it is clear to everybody that that aid is not arriving. That hostages have not been returned and that we are seeing starvation, hunger and killing on an unprecedented scale,' she told the enr.

'The situation cannot go on, it cannot,' Metsola stressed. She said 'humanity must always remain the number one priority', adding that 'we tend to forget it, and we tend to isolate what we say'.

Metsola expects the situation in Gaza to dominate Wednesday's State of the Union debate, following von der Leyen's address to MEPs. 'There is huge expectation on what will be said,' Metsola emphasised.

The content of this article is based on news by agencies participating in the European Newsroom (enr) project. AGERPRES (editing by: Simona Klodnischi)