Protesters laid three rolled-up white sheets with red stains on them on the square outside the European Commission’s head office in the Belgian capital. On the three ‘bodies’ the words International Law, EU Treaties and Genocide Convention were written, in a protest of the way Israel has responded to the Gazans.

“We’re coming together in a peaceful assembly, to stand up for those rights, principles and values that the European institutions are build on,” EU Commission staff member Manus Carlisle said.

“The reasons why we work here and love to work here. Those values of human rights, human dignity and

freedom especially.” Fellow protester Simona Baloghova, who works for the European Committee of the Regions, added the protest should not be seen as a political statement.