TAOISEACH SIMON HARRIS has repeated his call for an “urgent review” of the EU’s trade deal with Israel as a way to pressure Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to stop its onslaught in Gaza.
Saying that world leaders have failed to use “all levers to bring an end to the violence”, the Fine Gael leader demanded that the EU’s official agreement with Israel be examined.
Harris was speaking in the aftermath of what he described as the “gut-wrenching” attack on al-Taba’een school where people were sheltering.
An Israeli strike has killed at least 93 people with dozens more wounded according to Gaza’s civil defence agency.
It would make it one of the largest death tolls from a single strike during 10 months of war by Israel on Gaza in its search for Hamas Palestinian militants.
“Some 490 of Gaza’s schools have been bombed or damaged since the start of the war, and this weekend’s images from inside al-Taba’een school are gut-wrenching. Ireland condemns outright such awful and wholesale loss of civilian life,” Harris said.
The world is standing at the precipice of a horrific moment, and yet all levers to bring an end to the violence are not being used. I again call for an urgent review of the EU-Israel Association Agreement.
“The Agreement contains human rights clauses, and I do not believe it is conscionable for the EU to continue to render them redundant.”
Ireland along with Spain has sought a complete review of the trade deal which sees relations between the EU and Israel governed by a Free Trade Area.
In April, Tánaiste Micheál Martin admitted that Ireland had faced “significant pushback and resistance” from other EU countries while proposing the trade agreement be reviewed.
In a statement this morning, Harris said that this weekend brings the “grisly milestone” of 40,000 deaths in Gaza “a step closer”, as he condemned the Israeli air strike on a school-turned-shelter.
Harris added that there is growing evidence of a “prolonged humanitarian catastrophe” in the region.
The Wicklow TD said he is “particularly disturbed” by a confirmation from the United Nations that the number of aid deliveries reaching Gaza has halved, from a daily average of 169 trucks in April to fewer than 80 trucks a day in June and July.
“The Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs also says that only 24 of 67 planned aid missions to northern Gaza this month have been facilitated by Israel,” Harris continued.
“The United Nations has also assessed that more than 80% of the Gaza Strip has been placed under evacuation orders since October of last year.
“When people are told to leave, they have nowhere to go, so they often go to schools.”
He added: “A ceasefire remains urgently needed, and all sides must immediately work in good faith to bring one about.
“We have all been horrified by the many undoubted war crimes that have been committed in Gaza. There can be no impunity. Those responsible must be held to account.”
President Michael D Higgins has also condemned the “outrageous level of killing” of people in Gaza after the strike on the al-Taba’een shelter.
“There is no room anymore for anyone to avert their gaze,” Higgins said yesterday.
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