The international community must impose a solution to the Israel-Hamas conflict as the warring sides are unable to come to terms, the European Union's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Wednesday.

"I believe that we have learned in these 30 years that the solution has to be imposed from outside because the two parties will never be able to reach an agreement," he told an event in Lisbon, warning also, "if this tragedy doesn't end soon, the entire Middle East might end up in flames."