In a post on his X account, Fontelles said far too many civilians were killed in Gaza.
“We are witnessing an appalling lack of distinction in Israel’s military operation in Gaza,” Fontelles said.
“The Holy Family Church and the Charity Convent, shelters for displaced people, were attacked.
“Worshippers, three Israeli hostages and hundreds of other civilians have died during the most recent military operations,” he added.Israel’s military is showing “an appalling lack of distinction” in its targeting in Gaza, the EU’s top diplomat said Monday, highlighting the deaths of Israeli hostages, worshippers and other Palestinian civilians.
“Worshippers, three Israeli hostages, and hundreds of other civilians have died during the most recent military operations,” he said.
“This must stop. A humanitarian pause is urgently needed.”
The criticism followed Israel’s admission that its forces had on Friday mistakenly shot dead three hostages who had escaped their captors inside Gaza.
On Saturday, a Palestinian Christian mother and daughter were shot dead “in cold blood” by an Israeli soldier on the grounds of Gaza’s only Catholic church, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said.
Pope Francis on Sunday deplored the women’s killing, saying it happened in a church complex “where there are no terrorists, but families, children, people who are sick and have disabilities”.
More than 19,453 Palestinians – around 70 percent of them women, young children and adolescents – have been killed in the Gaza Strip in Israeli bombardments since October 7, according to the Hamas government’s health ministry.
Israeli launched a relentless military operation in Gaza Hamas conducted an attack in Israel on October 7 that killed around 1,140 people, most of them civilians, and took an estimated 240 hostage, according to Israeli figures.
The EU’s 27 nations are divided over how Israel is carrying out its military operations in Gaza.
Most back a call for a ceasefire endorsed by the overwhelming majority of the United Nations General Assembly.
“Far too many civilians have been killed in Gaza, as pointed out among others also by the French, German and UK foreign ministers,” Borrell said in his post.
Israeli forces shot dead four Palestinians in a West Bank refugee camp Monday, the Palestinian health ministry said, taking the toll in the occupied territory to over 300 during the Gaza war.
Mohammad Samir Milhem, 17, his brother Hikmat, 24, and Yazan Khatib, 20, were shot in the head by Israeli troops in the Al-Fara camp near Tubas, the ministry said. Rashed Habib Al-Aydi, 17, was shot in the chest.
Health officials say 301 Palestinians have now been killed by Israeli forces or settlers in the West Bank since the war in Gaza erupted with the attack by Hamas on October 7.
The Israeli army did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Earlier this month Israeli forces shot dead at least six Palestinians including a 14-year-old boy in a raid on the refugee camp, the health ministry said. The army confirmed at that time it had conducted a “counter-terrorism” operation.
In a separate incident on Monday, a 27-year-old woman was wounded in “a shooting toward a car” north of Ramallah, the Magen David Adom emergency medical services said.
She had been traveling with a man and one-month-old baby, who were not injured, near the Ateret settlement and was taken to hospital “in a moderate condition.”
Violence in the West Bank, occupied by Israel since 1967, has flared since the outbreak of the war in Gaza.
The deadliest ever Gaza war began with unprecedented attacks by Hamas on October 7, when the group killed 1,139 people, mostly civilians, and abducted around 250, according to an AFP tally based on updated Israeli figures.
The health ministry in the Hamas-run territory says Israel’s retaliatory assault in Gaza has killed more than 18,800 people, mostly women and children.