Taoiseach Micheál Martin has warned that Gaza could be forgotten as international focus moves to the war between Iran and Israel.
Mr Martin said the diplomatic process relating to Iran’s nuclear programme should have been allowed to play itself out but what was required now, he said, “is a complete de-escalation, an ending of the war and also we cannot forget Gaza”.
“There’s a huge danger that Gaza will be sidelined and marginalised in terms of the international profile. The continuing loss of life in Gaza is appalling. The number of children facing malnutrition and death from malnutrition is simply unconscionable and the international community needs to maintain its focus on ending the war in Gaza, allowing for a huge surge in humanitarian aid in, the release of all hostages and the commencement of the reconstruction of Gaza and the peace process there.
Mr Martin said that he would tell European Union leaders at the summit this week in Brussels that the EU’s trade agreement with Israel should be suspended, though he accepted that this would require unanimity among EU members.
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However, he said Ireland would be looking for “actions in the context of that agreement ... elements of its could be suspended”.
“But it certainly isn’t acceptable that the human rights clauses of that agreement would be so clearly broken. International humanitarian law has been breached by Israel in the conduct of its war in Gaza ... There should be consequences.”
Mr Martin said “dialogue and diplomacy in relation to the nuclear issue in Iran” would have been preferable but he avoided saying directly that the US had broken international law.
“Iran has been a malign actor in the Middle East for quite some time. It even got involved in Ukraine war by providing drones and so forth. But in particular its support of Hamas, Hizbullah, the Houthis, its declaration, its position of destroying Israel, makes for a very complex scenario in the Middle East,” he said.
Speaking in Brussels, where he was attending a meeting of EU foreign ministers, Tánaiste Simon Harris said that while Ireland continued to support a full suspension of the EU-Israel deal, there was a lack of necessary consensus within the EU for such a move.
The EU’s response to what was happening in Gaza had been much too slow and “far too many people have been left to die as genocide has been carried out,” Mr Harris said.
The credibility of the EU was on the line, to make clear that human rights clauses in deals the union signed with other countries were not “discretionary” and had to be respected, he said.
Domestically Mr Harris said an initial draft of legislation to ban trade coming from Israeli settlements in illegally occupied Palestinian territories would be brought to Cabinet on Tuesday.
The Occupied Territories Bill would propose banning the trade of goods, but Mr Harris said he remained “open” to the legislation being expanded to also ban the trade of services. “We need to have legal clarity as to whether that’s possible or not, I’ve asked the Attorney General in relation to that,” he said.
The recent EU review noted international agencies had documented Israel bombing hospitals and destroying vital civilian infrastructure, as well as blocking the entry of all aid into Gaza, which left people in the Palestinian enclave facing starvation.
Israel fiercely denounced the EU review, calling it “outrageous and indecent” and accused the EU of accepting biased evidence and refusing to give Israel a chance to respond.
EU views are hardening against Israel, with the Spanish government also calling for the trade agreement to be suspended, but there is far from agreement on the issue.
