Brussels, September 10 (RHC)-- An official European Union delegation that visited the besieged Gaza Strip after the recent Israeli onslaught on the blockaded area says Israel has committed "genocide" against defenseless Palestinians.

The delegation, which includes 13 members of the European Parliament, has called on the EU to break diplomatic ties with Israel and implement sanctions against the Tel Aviv regime because of the war crimes it has committed against the Palestinian people.

Martina Anderson, an Irish member of the European Parliament, told Press TV: "I don't think it is too strong a word, not when you think of how genocide is described; it's described as the partial or the whole destruction of people; and what we are seeing happen in Gaza, in Palestine, is the destruction of Palestinians."

The delegation, which has just returned to the Belgian capital, Brussels, from the Middle East, has also accused the West of turning a blind eye to the Israeli crimes against Palestinians.