U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged the leaders of the European Union to have the same respect for international law in Gaza as they do for Ukraine, as over a million Palestinians are being starved to death by Israel.

At an EU summit in Brussels, the U.N.'s Guterres appealed to the leaders to remain strong and united in their respect for standards enshrined in the United Nations Charter and international law.

"The basic principle of international humanitarian law is the protection of civilians. We must stick to principles in Ukraine as in Gaza without double standards," Guterres told reporters, standing alongside EU Council President Charles Michel, who chaired the summit.

A U.N. food agency has warned that "famine is imminent" in northern Gaza. Israel, meanwhile, appears determined to launch a ground offensive in the southern city of Rafah, where many people have sought refuge from the fighting.

The 27-nation EU has long been deeply divided in its approach to Israel and Palestine. As the Palestinian death toll in Gaza mounts to nearly 32,000 people killed by Israel's attacks, more countries are supporting calls for a cease-fire.

In contrast, almost the entire bloc sees Russia’s two-year-long war on Ukraine as an existential threat. They’ve poured billions of euros into supporting the country, by providing it with arms and ammunition and helping to prop up its war-ravaged economy.

"The response to the appalling crisis in Palestine has not been Europe’s finest hour, quite frankly," said Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, whose country is among the strongest backers of the Palestinians.

"I think it has been undermining particularly of our efforts to defend Ukraine because so many countries in the Global South – also known as most of the world – interpret Europe’s actions in relation to Ukraine versus Palestine as double standards. I think they have a point," he said.

Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo described the events unfolding in Gaza as "dramatic."

"We see today people who are trying to feed themselves by eating grass. People who are on the verge of being in a famine. Europe needs to lead, and not to follow, and it is time for us to be clear: to demand an immediate cease-fire, to demand the liberation of the hostages," he told reporters.

In a draft statement prepared for the summit, seen by The Associated Press (AP), the leaders are due to lament "the unprecedented loss of civilian lives and the critical humanitarian situation. The European Council calls for an immediate humanitarian pause leading to a sustainable cease-fire."

Concern is mounting about an imminent Israeli ground offensive against Hamas in Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city near the border with Egypt. It’s a plan that has raised global alarm because of the potential catastrophic harm to the hundreds of thousands of civilians sheltering there.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, accused of carrying out genocide, has said that Israel can’t achieve its goal of "total victory" against Hamas without going into Rafah.

The EU leaders would also urge "the Israeli government to refrain from a ground operation in Rafah," saying that "such an operation would have devastating humanitarian consequences and must be avoided." The statement was a draft that could change by the time the summit ends.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, a staunch ally of Israel who visited the country on Sunday, said "we are not for a big offensive in Rafah. I stressed that in Israel myself, and we hope that a longer-lasting cease-fire will now be possible that is also linked to the release of all hostages ... and the handover of the dead."

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said "what’s happening today in Gaza is the failure of humanity. It is not a humanitarian crisis. It is the failure of humanity." The cause, he told reporters, "is not an earthquake, is not a flood. It’s bombing."

Nearly 32,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed by Israel in Gaza, and nearly 74,200 injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war on the Palestinians, now in its 167th day, has pushed 85% of Gaza's population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of most food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the U.N.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which in January issued an interim ruling ordering Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.