The European Parliament has overwhelmingly adopted a resolution condemning the actions of Hamas and calling for a temporary humanitarian pause to allow for the delivery of aid.
MEPs have also called on Israel to respond within humanitarian and international law.
The resolution was adopted with 500 votes in favour, 21 against and 24 abstentions.
It follows criticism by many, including Irish MEPs, that the EU had failed to demonstrate a coherent response to the Hamas attacks in Israel two weeks ago.
Four Irish MEPs voted against the resolution as they believed it did not go far enough.
The four MEPs are members of the Left Group in the Parliament and were Chris McManus of Sinn Féin, Luke "Ming" Flanagan, Clare Daly and Mick Wallace.
Chris MacManus believed the resolution should have called for a full ceasefire.
"The call for a humanitarian pause, while welcome in itself, is in effect saying that Israel can resume its bombardment of hospitals and schools, and the mass-killing of civilians in Gaza after a short break," he said.
Clare Daly told RTÉ's European Parliament Report, prior to the vote, that she believed that the resolution failed to adequately acknowledge the role of Israel.
She said: "It talks about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza as if this was some sort of a natural disaster without any mention at all of who is responsible for that humanitarian disaster.
"Do we not know who's bombing [Gaza], do we not know who's cut off the gas, the electricity, the fuel, we cannot even name Israel in that motion. It's incredibly disappointing."
In a post on the social media platform X, Luke "Ming" Flanagan said the word "ceasefire" was replaced in the resolution with the phrase "humanitarian pause".
"A pathetic, weak, lame parliament," he said.
Both Fianna Fáil MEPs, Barry Andrews and Billy Kelleher supported the resolution, although they believed it was "not perfect".
"Ultimately, we would have liked to have seen the Parliament calling for a long-term peaceful resolution to the conflict", Barry Andrews said.
Both Green MEPs, Ciarán Cuffe and Grace O'Sullivan also believed that the resolution could have gone further but ultimately chose to support it.
Ms O'Sullivan explained the resolution, in her view, is an "imperfect compromise".
"However, as the bombing and bloodshed continues in Gaza, it is important to send a signal of unity and solidarity to the victims of the violence," she said.
All five Fine Gael MEPs said that they support calls from the European Parliament for a "humanitarian pause".
Seán Kelly, Frances Fitzgerald, Deirdre Clune, Maria Walsh and Colm Markey expressed disappointment that of the 21 MEPs to vote against the resolution, four were Irish.
