Tánaiste: Sanctions against Israel must go further than travel ban

Tánaiste Micheál Martin said sanctions 'should go beyond travel bans if this persists'. Picture: Niall Carson/PA

Sanctions against Israel must go further than a travel ban on extremist settlers, the Tánaiste has said.

Micheál Martin has accused Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) of facilitating violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, while war continues to rage in Gaza.

He also said Israel must pay for damage inflicted on EU-funded buildings such as schools and health facilities, many of which have been destroyed by violent settlers.

Destroyed farms and buildings in the Gaza Strip as seen from Southern Israel. Picture: Leo Correa/AP

Palestinians living in the area have accused Jewish settlers of using the Israel/Hamas conflict in Gaza as a pretence to seize more land and engage in violence in the West Bank.

"Yes, I think sanctions should go beyond travel bans if this persists,” Mr Martin said.

“Israel is saying it's a small minority but the evidence is that the action of settlers has been backed up by the IDF on the ground, with the Palestinians being attacked and various communities being displaced.

The issue fundamentally is if we are to have any chance of a contiguous Palestinian state, the action of the settlers has to stop, particularly with the far right, very religious fundamentalist settlers who almost believe that the Biblical reality is this is all of their land and they can displace anybody in their way. 

"That has to stop and the Israeli Government has a responsibility to stop that," said Mr Martin.

The Tánaiste said Ireland is part of the West Bank Consortium that is aiming to pressure Israel to pay for damage to EU-funded projects.

"Most recently there was a school that was funded by Irish Aid that was very badly damaged by Israeli forces,” he said.

“We believe what's happening in the West Bank is shocking, it's in violation of UN resolutions and in violation of international humanitarian law, and we've made it clear consistently at UN and other levels that this has to stop now."

Mr Martin’s comments came as Israeli tanks advanced deep into a town in the central Gaza Strip after days of relentless bombardment that forced tens of thousands of already displaced Palestinian families to flee in a new exodus.

An Israeli armoured personnel carrier near the Gaza Strip border on Wednesday. Picture: Ohad Zwigenberg/AP

Palestinian health authorities said 210 people were confirmed killed in Israeli strikes in the past 24 hours, raising the toll of the war to 21,320 dead — nearly 1% of the enclave's population. Thousands more dead are feared to be buried or lost in the ruins.

Israel has escalated its ground war in Gaza sharply since just before Christmas despite public pleas from its closest ally the United States to scale the campaign down in the closing weeks of the year.

Israeli forces raided foreign exchange and money transfer agencies in Ramallah and other cities in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, seizing millions of dollars suspected of being intended to fund the Islamist group Hamas, the military said.

At least one person was killed and 14 others were wounded in a clash between Israeli troops and Palestinians in the centre of Ramallah, the main city in the West Bank and the seat of the Palestinian Authority, the Palestinian health ministry said.

Separately, a UN report published on Thursday decried a “rapid deterioration” of human rights in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and urged an end to the violence there.

The office of the UN high commissioner for human rights (OHCHR) said it had recorded mass arbitrary detentions, unlawful detentions, and cases of reported torture and other forms of ill-treatment of Palestinian detainees. It said about 4,785 Palestinians had been detained in the occupied West Bank since October 7.

“Some were stripped naked, blindfolded, and restrained for long hours with handcuffs and with their legs tied, while Israeli soldiers stepped on their heads and backs, were spat at, slammed against walls, threatened, insulted, humiliated and in some cases subjected to sexual and gender-based violence,” it said.

Meanwhile President Michael D Higgins has called for independent verification of what is blocking UN aid to Gaza.

"The statement issued on behalf of Israeli forces in Gaza, stating that the slow trickle of aid so desperately needed is due to UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency), is deeply concerning and potentially undermines and detracts from the integrity of UNRWA and its critical and vital work at this time," he said.

"The defence of the United Nations and its agencies is a matter not just for Heads of State, but for all those who believe in universal values of human rights."