“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.

Borrell has often been an outlier in denouncing what he views as Israel’s excesses.