Coveney accuses international community of turning its back on the children of Gaza

A child at Nasser Hospital in Gaza yesterday as wounded Palestinians are transferred to Egypt. Picture: Abed Zagout/Anadolu/Getty

Simon Coveney has accused the international community of turning its back on children in Gaza and said countries must stand up for human rights protections even if it is "awkward" politically.

In the strongest intervention yet by a Government minister on Israel's retaliation to the October 7 Hamas attack, Mr Coveney said Israel is not complying with international law after “collapsing buildings on top of children in an effort to target one Hamas leader".

The trade minister's condemnation of the attack came as another blast shook Jabalia, Gaza's largest refugee camp, on Wednesday, a day after Palestinian health officials said an Israeli air strike killed about 50 people and wounded 150 there. 

Palestinians injured in Israeli air raids arrive at  Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, Gaza, yesterday. Picture: Ahmad Hasaballah/Getty

The UN human rights office tweeted last night: "Given the high number of civilian casualties & the scale of destruction following Israeli airstrikes on Jabalia refugee camp, we have serious concerns that these are disproportionate attacks that could amount to war crimes."

The Gaza health ministry says at least 8,796 Palestinians, including 3,648 children, have been killed by Israeli strikes since October 7.

Yesterday also saw a first group of civilians evacuated from Gaza into Egypt, even as Israeli forces continued to bomb the Palestinian enclave from land, sea, and air. They included at least 320 foreign passport-holders and dozens of severely-injured Gazans. It is hoped some 7,500 foreign passport-holders will be evacuated from Gaza over the next two weeks.

Mr Coveney said he hopes 35 Irish people "desperate" to get out of the war-torn region will get to exit soon.

In a wide-ranging interview with the Irish Examiner  in Seoul, South Korea, Mr Coveney said the targeting of a refugee camp in Gaza by Israeli forces “should raise serious concern” among the international community.

Simon Coveney said countries such as Ireland need to 'speak up' for children in Gaza even if it makes for 'difficult political interaction'. Picture: Dan Linehan

He said countries such as Ireland need to “speak up” for children in Gaza even if it makes for “difficult political interaction". 

“One thing I would say just on Gaza more generally is that if we are to be consistent — and we should be in terms of the application of international law and international humanitarian law — women and children and civilians in Gaza have a right to those protections as do any other nationals, whether they be Israelis or Irish or British or European people," he said.

“I can understand why Israel is enraged by what happened on October 7. Those of us in the international community, whether it's through the UN or through the EU, we do have to stand up for the human rights protections and humanitarian law protections that are there for children in Gaza, just as much as for children in Israel, just as much as children in Ireland, should something terrible happen.

"I don't believe that's happening. I think countries like Ireland and others need to speak up about that, even though it makes for awkward and difficult political interaction, perhaps, given the awfulness of the atrocity that happened to many Israeli innocent civilians.

But collapsing buildings on top of children in an effort to target one Hamas leader is not consistent with international humanitarian law and can't be allowed to go on unchallenged.

He was speaking on a Government trade mission in South Korea. When asked if the EU needs to strengthen its approach towards Israel’s attacks, Mr Coveney, who visited Israel and Palestine numerous times while foreign affairs minister, said the EU did achieve consensus in terms of a statement from EU leaders but it was not as strong as Ireland would have liked. 

Tánaiste Micheál Martin said he was “deeply shocked” by the number of casualties following Israel's bombing of the Jabalia refugee camp.

“I watched it last evening. Whole families destroyed, killed. Fathers talking about losing their children,” Mr Martin told Newstalk's Pat Kenny Show.

“It’s horrific and it’s not justifiable and in our view, it adds pressure to the need to have a humanitarian pause here, a humanitarian ceasefire, to enable aid to get in.” 

He said the United Nations Relief and Works Agency has said more children have been killed in Gaza since October 7 than have been killed in all conflicts globally since 2019.

“We cannot allow this to continue. This has to stop," Mr Martin said.

“UN Secretary General Guterres has been clear that international humanitarian law cannot be applied selectively. The law of war always applies."