The European Union will prepare to expand its sanctions on Iran in response to Tehran's attack on Israel, EU top diplomat Josep Borrell said on Tuesday after an emergency video conference of the bloc's foreign ministers, Reuters reported.

"Today, ministers took a strong stance, asking all actors in the region to move away from the abyss, in order not to fall into it," he told reporters after the meeting, called to discuss the repercussions of the Iranian drone and missile attack.

Borrell, the EU's high representative for foreign policy, warned the Middle East would be in "full war" if every development in the current crisis is followed by an escalation.

He added that several EU members proposed expanding a sanctions regime that seeks to curb the supply of Iranian drones to Russia to include the provision of missiles and cover deliveries to Iranian proxies in the Middle East.

Germany, France and several other EU members have publicly backed such a proposal, noted Reuters.

Borrell said he supported the proposal and diplomats would work on it in the coming days so ministers could discuss it again at a meeting in Luxembourg on Monday.

Also on Tuesday, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan announced that the US will impose new sanctions on Iran following its attack on Israel.

“In the coming days, the United States will impose new sanctions targeting Iran, including its missile and drone program as well as new sanctions against entities supporting the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Iran’s Defense Ministry. We anticipate that our allies and partners will soon be following with their own sanctions,” he said in a statement.

Borrell on Tuesday said all the ministers from the 27-nation EU strongly condemned the Iranian attack and reaffirmed their commitment to Israel's security, but also voiced strong criticism of Israel's conduct of the war in Gaza.

He said far too little aid was getting into Gaza to deal with a "catastrophic humanitarian situation" and questioned Israeli calls for Gazans in the south of the Strip to move to the north.

"It's impossible for any human being to live there. There is no water, there's no electricity, there's no sewerage. There's no houses, there is no nothing. It's like the moon," he said, adding, "If they wanted to make Gaza a place where human life is not possible, in the north they managed to succeed."

Borrell has repeatedly criticized Israel over its conduct during the war in Gaza. In January, he asserted that Israel had "created" and "financed" Hamas. Later, he repeated that claim when pressed about it by reporters.

Borrell previously condemned Hamas for using "hospitals and civilians as human shields" in Gaza, but also urged Israel to show "maximum restraint" to protect civilians from the war it is waging against Hamas.

In February, the EU foreign affairs chief urged allies of Israel -- primarily the United States -- to stop sending it weapons as "too many people" are being killed in Gaza.