President condemns destruction of Irish-funded school in Palestine

The President has also has issued a plea to stop the "death and destruction" in Gaza raising the "horrific" number of children who have been killed. Picture: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin

President Michael D Higgins has strongly condemned the destruction of an Irish-funded school in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, describing it as a violation of international humanitarian law.

The President has also issued a plea to stop the "death and destruction" in Gaza raising the "horrific" number of children who have been killed.

It has been reported that the school in Khirbet Zanuta, a small Palestinian village in the hills south of Hebron, was destroyed along with most of the houses, by a bulldozer in recent days as Jewish settlers continue to attack parts of the West Bank.

“The destruction of a school, part-funded by Irish Aid, in the village of Khirbet Zanuta in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, along with the forced abandonment of the village as a whole in recent weeks following settler violence and harassment, is further evidence of the appalling impact which the increase in that violence of recent weeks is having on the lives of children."

He added: "As Janez Lenarčič, the European Commissioner for Crisis Management, has stated, such destruction of a school is intolerable and a violation of International Humanitarian Law."

Turning to the ongoing bombardment of Gaza, the President said it is incumbent on all of us who believe in the basics of International Humanitarian Law to seek to ensure that children in particular are shielded from violence and abuse and to provide them with special protection at times of conflict.

It comes as UN Secretary-General António Guterres took the highly unusual step of invoking Article 99 of the UN Charter calling on the Security Council to "press to avert a humanitarian catastrophe" in Gaza.

It is estimated that Israel's bombardment of the Palestinian enclave has already killed around 16,000 people, including more than 6,000 children.

In a statement issued this afternoon, President Higgins said: "The Secretary-General’s action must be treated with the utmost seriousness and all steps possible taken to avert further catastrophe and to provide a meaningful, lasting peace.

"Responding to the horrific number of children who have been killed since 7th October must inform all of our actions.

"We must support our international institutions and the Secretary-General of the United Nations in their plea that an end be brought to this death and destruction.”