Israel is ethnically cleansing Gaza to turn it into a vacation spot, former European Commission vice president Josep Borrell said.
“We are witnessing the largest ethnic cleansing operation since the end of World War II, for the sole purpose of creating a splendid holiday destination once the millions of tons of Gaza’s rubble are cleared and the Palestinians are either gone or dead,” he said in a speech during his acceptance of the Charles V European Award on Friday.He also said the explosive force dropped on Gaza is three times greater than the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima.
Borrell, who was known for being an outspoken critic of Israel throughout his term, was awarded the Charles V for “his career, defense of peace, democracy, and European values, and his contribution to strengthening the European Union’s role and leadership in the world during particularly delicate times.”A large part of his acceptance speech focused on Gaza and Ukraine.
Borrell speaks of Oct. 7 massacre, says 'right to self-defense has limits'
The former EU VP did address the October 7 Hamas massacre, saying he condemned the terrorist attack by Hamas and affirmed Israel’s right to defend itself, but that “the right to self-defense has limits.”He accused Israel of violating international law by “systematically using hunger against the civilian population as a weapon of war, and causing with its bombings more than 50,000 deaths in Gaza, most of them women and children. The explosive force dropped on Gaza has been equivalent to three times the Hiroshima bomb.”The death toll Borrell quoted is according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry. It wasn’t clear where the figure of three times the Hiroshima bomb came from.A report published by Scientists for Global Security earlier this year said that about “70,000 tonnes of explosives” have been dropped on Gaza since the start of the war, with Bradford University Emeritus Professor of Peace Studies Paul Rogers then quoting this in an interview to say that the amount of kilotons dropped on Gaza was six times that of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima.Nevertheless, the original report said a comparison between the two would be “problematic” as “the damage mechanisms are very different.”Borrell then said: “We all know what’s happening here,” adding that statements by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ministers are evidence of “genocidal intent.”“Rarely have I heard a state official so openly express a plan that fits the legal definition of genocide,” he said.
Borrell links humanitarian crisis in Gaza to the Holocaust
“One can die from a bullet to the head. One can die in a gas chamber. One can also die of hunger. In all cases, it is the will to exterminate a people,” he said, linking the humanitarian crisis in Gaza to the massacre of six million Jews in the Holocaust.“One horror does not justify another horror. I have said it many times: The horror of Hamas does not justify the horror of Israel’s response.”He called on Europe to not just protest but influence behavior, including by supplying fewer weapons to Israel and demanding adherence to international law.Borrell was replaced by Kaja Kallas in 2024.In September, then-foreign minister Israel Katz called Borrell “an antisemitic Israel-hater who leads a campaign against Israel like the greatest antisemites in history.”