With reports of acute suffering in Gaza flooding the airwaves, EU leaders have toughened their tone on Israel -- but the bloc will need to bridge deep divisions to move from rhetoric to a real-world impact on the conflict.

The shift has been most noticeable from key power Germany, one of Israel's staunchest allies in the world, its loyalty rooted in the trauma of the Holocaust.

After an Israeli strike killed dozens, including many children, in a Gaza school-turned-shelter Monday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz declared he "no longer understands" Israel's objectives in the war-ravaged Palestinian enclave.

"The way in which the civilian population has been affected... can no longer be justified by a fight against Hamas terrorism," he said.

Berlin's stern new tone found an echo Tuesday in Brussels, where the German head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, denounced as "abhorrent" and "disproportionate" the past days' attacks on civilian infrastructure in Gaza.

An EU diplomat called such language both "strong and unheard of" coming from the commission chief, among the first to rally to Israel's side in the wake of the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks........

© Al Monitor