Taoiseach calls for 'urgent review' of EU-Israel agreement as Gaza death toll nears 40,000
In this image made from a video, people inspect the dame at a school after being hit by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024. (AP Photo)
There can be "no impunity" for those committing "undoubted war crimes" in Gaza, Taoiseach Simon Harris said following an Israeli attack on a school in Gaza, where hundreds of families were sheltering
Some 100 people, including children, were killed in the air strikes on the Tabeen school, according to Gazan authorities.
The Taoiseach described images taken inside the school after the Israeli air strikes as “gut-wrenching.”
“Ireland condemns outright such awful and wholesale loss of civilian life,” Mr Harris said.
“This weekend has brought the grisly milestone of 40,000 deaths in Gaza a step closer.
“There is growing evidence of a prolonged humanitarian catastrophe, and I am particularly disturbed by the confirmation this weekend by 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.”
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have been displaced from their homes by Israel's onslaught on Gaza, with many sheltering in schools and hospitals in the hope of safety.
Almost all school buildings in Gaza have been directly hit or damaged in Israeli air strikes on the civilian infrastructure.
Only 24 of 67 planned aid missions to northern Gaza this month have been facilitated by Israel, according to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Mr Harris said.
And the United Nations has 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,” Mr Harris said.
“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."
Mr Harris said that all the legally binding orders of the International Court of Justice must be implemented in full, which called for an end to its “illegal” occupation of the Gaza Strip.
“Too many innocent lives have been lost in 10 months,” Mr Harris added.
“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 calls for an immediate ceasefire, the unconditional release of Israeli hostages, and for aid trucks to flow unimpeded.”
According to the United Nations, 477 out of 564 school buildings were directly hit or damaged in Gaza as of July 6 and more than 12 have been targeted since.
Hundreds of displaced people recently arrived in the Tabeen school desperately seeking shelter after the Israeli army ordered them to leave their homes in the town of Beit Hanoun.
Israel claimed it hit a Hamas command centre in the school on Saturday.
Meanwhile, President Michael D Higgins has condemned, the boming of the school sheltering refugees as a “horrific violation of human rights".
"The attack which has taken place on a school site in Gaza, where a reported 6,000 displaced people were sheltering and many preparing for morning prayers, will be condemned by all those seeking to find peace in what is a continuing horrific violation of human rights,” President Michael D Higgins said.
“The comments made by the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, that there is no justification for the massacres which have taken place following the targeting of at least 10 schools in recent weeks must be taken with the utmost seriousness by all Member States."
Urgent practical diplomatic efforts are needed to stop the deaths and total devastation of infrastructure in the region.
“There is no room anymore for anyone to avert their gaze," President Higgins said.
"The outrageous level of killing must end with an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages, and the immediate provision of all necessary aid."
ActionAid Ireland CEO, Karol Balfe, said the horrific attack on the Tabeen school where 6,000 displaced people were sheltering could amount to a grave violation of international humanitarian law.
"Yet another brutal attack on a school has seen dozens killed and hundreds of people left grieving and traumatised,” Ms Balfe said.
“We cannot let this kind of atrocity become normalised. The world must not become numb to the horror that people in Gaza are having to live through every single day - this nightmare has to end.
"A permanent and immediate ceasefire is urgently needed and states must do everything in their power to bring about an end to the crisis - including banning arms sales to the Israeli government and imposing sanctions on senior Israeli officials linked to alleged violations of international humanitarian law, such as travel bans and asset freezes. There can be no more delay."
Meanwhile, protestors wearing blue “press” vests highlighted the deaths of more than 100 journalists in Gaza in the weekly Cork Palestine Solidarity Campaign demonstration in Cork today.
Palestinian writer and filmmaker, Naser Al-Swirki, speaking at the demonstration, condemned the killings.
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