Amnesty International's EU director, Eve Geddie, said such a proposal was "long overdue, limited in scope and grossly inadequate given the scale of Israel's serious violations of international law and the full range of political, diplomatic and economic tools available to the EU".

More than 1,000 people have been killed while trying to access humanitarian aid in Gaza since the end of May, according to the UN – one of the grim figures that are fuelling mounting European pressure on Israel over its ongoing blockade and severe aid restrictions.

The European Union's executive body recommended on Monday curbing Israeli access to its flagship research funding programme after calls from EU countries to increase pressure on Israel to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.