Israel faced growing international condemnation Saturday when a military strike on a school killed at least 30 people, including many children.
EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell was swift in his reaction, calling for a "political solution" to end the "madness" in Gaza.
"Cease-fire has to happen now. International Humanitarian Law has to be respected. Humanitarian assistance to civilians needs to be delivered at scale. Only a political solution will end this madness," Borrell said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
In another post, he said "yet another attack on a school used as a shelter for internally displaced people in Khan Younis ... At the same time an already very fragile population is asked to relocate again and again, with no end in sight."
Meanwhile, Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris accused Israel of "unconscionable violence" after the strike.
"This latest attack on a school by the Israeli military is a further demonstration of brutal, unconscionable violence," Harris said in a statement.
"Targeting an area populated with displaced families is inhumane and despicable," he added.
Israel said Saturday it targeted "terrorists" in the strike – at least the eighth time since July 6 that a school has been hit by its forces.
Harris said it "continues to use disproportionate force and is engaging in a war that is having an unacceptable level of civilian death and injury, especially to children."
The Irish leader reiterated calls for an immediate cease-fire alongside the release of all hostages held by Hamas and "unimpeded access for aid" into Gaza.
"The bloodshed and suffering need to end," Harris added.
His forthright criticism of Saturday's strikes comes two months after Dublin recognized a Palestinian state alongside Spain and Norway, in a move that has soured already strained ties with Israel.
The Gazan Health Ministry earlier Saturday reported "30 martyrs and more than 100 wounded" in the strike on Khadija school in the central Deir el-Balah area.
With most of the Gaza Strip's 2.4 million people displaced at least once during the war since Oct. 7 attack, many have sought refuge in school buildings including the one hit on Saturday.
Israel's military said Palestinian fighters were using the compound as a "hiding place."
Further south, in the Khan Younis city area, around 170 people have been killed "and hundreds wounded" in an Israeli operation since Monday, Gaza's civil defense agency said.
