LAST UPDATE | 11 Mar
PRESIDENT MICHAEL D Higgins has issued a strong statement calling for global efforts for peace in Gaza and criticising those blocking aid to the Palestinian enclave’s residents.
The president has today warned that “no one can say they didn’t know what the consequences of inaction would be” if a ceasefire is not reached soon amid reports of starvation among Gazans still living in the region.
He added that the blocking of aid trucks by “extremist settlers” is “an appalling denial of the humanity of those dying of hunger”.
A truce in Gaza has yet to be reached by the Hamas-run authority and the Israeli Government as the Muslim population of the Palestinian territory prepares to begin Ramadan.
There have been mounting concerns in recent weeks over the provision of humanitarian aid and food into the region as millions of Gazans are facing starvation following months of conflict in the region.
Higgins, in a statement today, said it is vital that every country in the world “does all in its power to ensure that a humanitarian disaster in its most extreme sense is avoided” in Gaza.
He added that the situation in the region is “one from which the global public must not be distracted or avert its gaze” and is “a matter of life and death”.
“The blockading of food and aid must immediately be stopped. Vital essential medicines and sources of energy must be provided to what is left of the hospitals in Gaza.
“Aid that could be delivered immediately is scandalously being blocked and those responsible for doing so must take responsibility for the deaths that are ensuing,” he added.
Over the weekend, 200 tonnes of food aid were “ready” to be sent from Cyprus to Gaza by sea, a Spanish NGO said. This was the first shipment of aid along an EU-backed maritime corridor.
Some countries, including the US, have begun to airdrop food and other assistance over the besieged Gaza Strip, but a parachute malfunction caused a number of deaths.
Military experts who spoke to The Journal said that the air drops the US, Britain and Jordan were working on were not enough to get the required volume of aid into the besieged Gaza.
As reported first by The Journal on Monday, Ireland is now working with Jordanian officials with a hope to join those airdrops.
Higgins said that the aid “could be delivered immediately” but is being prevented by both State actions and “illegal blockages”.
Higgins added that these preventions are breaching “every humanitarian principle”.
The President said other countries in the United Nations should “emulate Ireland’s example in increasing its aid” to UNRWA, after its Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini defended the agency against claims from Israel its staff were working with Hamas.
These claims from Israel have led to countries withdrawing millions of funds to the UN agency as it remains one of the few UN humanitarian aid providers in the region. The claims have largely yet to be comprehensively proven.
Last month Lazzarini met with Tánaiste Micheál Martin who labelled the claims from Israel as a “misinformation campaign” and immediately increased funds to the UN agency.
The President said Israel’s “propaganda campaign” could undermine the role of the UN in the present circumstances and in relation to the future of Gaza.
He labelled the claims as “a scandalous travesty against the little less than heroic efforts of all those involved on the frontline in Gaza” and said Lazzarini’s plea for help “deserves the support of all who believe in the United Nations”.
The Commissioner General has previously detailed how staff are working with depleting medical and nutritional resources while also dealing with 160 deaths and mass casualties of their own.
“We in Ireland, as elsewhere, have seen the rise of dangerous misinformation at the very time when there has emerged a widespread shared consensus on the need for such a ceasefire as will enable serious diplomatic exchanges to take place involving the release of hostages and, above all, the release of humanitarian aid to those who so desperately need it,” Higgins said.
The President believes Ireland needs to move to call for a ceasefire in the region.
“It is past time that Ireland was joined by all of those countries of the European Union and beyond in calling for an immediate ceasefire to be agreed and for this most vital humanitarian aid to be provided to those so in need of it,” he said.
“Once a ceasefire has been achieved, there is no time to be lost in addressing such basic issues as will be needed in order to bring a long-term peace which can provide both for the rights of Palestinians and for the appropriate security of Israel.”
Higgins said that the requirements for long-term peace are clear, and have been highlighted by international observers, including reports comprised by himself and other humanitarian aid experts, for many years.
“The report which we issued following our visit made a number of clear recommendations on the actions required. Instead, regrettably, year following year settlements have increased.
“Indeed, during the present conflict authorisation for over 300 illegal settlements have been proposed, something referred to just this week by Volker Turk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, as a war crime.
Higgins said that “the world has been warned” about the implications of an extension of the military campaign into Rafah and that “no one now or in the future can say they didn’t know what the consequences of inaction would be”.
“It is time for the world to put an end to this loss of life, to remember our shared humanity, listen to the peacemakers and commit all of its efforts to bringing this crisis to an end and ensuring an appropriate long term settlement is reached,” the President concluded.
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