By Selen Valente
BRUSSELS (AA) – Staff from the European Union in Brussels on Thursday protested Israeli attacks on Gaza as the conflict has been continuing for over a year now.
Nearly 100 staff members gathered in front of the EU Commission, carrying banners reading "EU staff for peace and justice."
They denounced Israel’s attacks on Palestinian civilians, particularly women and children.
Protesters demanded an immediate and permanent cease-fire, the release of all hostages, and the condemnation of all crimes and rights violations in the Gaza Strip.
EU workers also called on member countries to stop arms trade with Israel and cancel the EU-Israel Association Agreement.
They vowed to hold protests on the second Thursday of every month.
Pro-Palestinian Israeli activist Eitan Bronstein Aparicio, who was invited to the demonstration, said Israel has become a genocide state over the years, beginning with the 1982 Sabra and Shatila massacre.
Israel has continued its brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip following an attack by the Palestinian group Hamas last year, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.
More than 42,000 people have since been killed, mostly women and children, and nearly 97,900 others injured, according to local health authorities.
The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of the Gaza Strip amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water, and medicine.
Israel faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.
*Writing in Ankara