Tadgh McNally: Trying to keep everyone on side will prove a tough task

Gaza aid, Iran unrest and US pressure loom as the foreign affairs minister seeks balance abroad and unity at home

Helen McEntee and Badr Abdelatty: Both ministers acknowledged the movement towards a new phase of the ceasefire in Gaza. File picture

Helen McEntee’s first major visit to the Middle East comes at a key time for the region, amid turmoil in Iran and changes to come in Gaza.

Ireland’s foreign affairs minister arrived into Egypt with a lot on the agenda, including a visit to the Rafah border crossing with Gaza and a meeting with the country’s foreign minister.

It’s a little under two years on from Micheál Martin’s last visit to the country, as Ireland tries to retain its reputation as an honest broker and a friend to the Palestinian cause in the Middle East.

While things have changed in that time and a ceasefire is technically in place, Palestinians continue to be killed in Israeli ceasefire violations which Ms McEntee condemns.

Ms McEntee will on Tuesday travel to the Rafah Crossing, the border between Egypt and Gaza, where she’s due to meet with key aid agencies who are stuck, unable to get into the enclave to deliver lifesaving aid to Palestinians.

During her time on the border, she is expected to announce that Ireland will provide €42m worth of funding to Palestine across 2026, with €20m of this set to go towards funding the work of UNRWA — the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.

After a bilateral meeting with Egyptian foreign minister Badr Abdelatty yesterday, both ministers acknowledged the movement towards a new phase of the ceasefire in Gaza, with the establishment of a technocratic Palestinian administration for the strip and the creation of Donald Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’. 

Ms McEntee told reporters: "We want to be supportive partners in making sure that President Trump’s peace plan, that it is a success, that we can bring peace to the region and that we can ultimately look towards a two-State solution and the ability for Palestinian’s to live in their own land."

While saying she wants the peace plan to succeed, she admitted the initial phase had been “imperfect”, condemning both the ongoing bombardment of Gaza but also the blocking of aid into the Palestinian enclave.

Ireland is not alone in its criticism of the Israeli ceasefire violations, with Mr Abdelatty calling for an immediate halt to future attacks.

Mr Abdelatty said there is currently a “good amount of agreement” on the formation of the technocratic Palestinian administration, which will be responsible for managing Gaza and providing people with their basic needs on the ground.

While Gaza was top of the agenda for the two ministers, the rising tensions in Iran were also discussed, as daily protests against the Iranian regime continue to ratchet up.

Protesters are continuing to take to the streets, despite estimates that the death toll in the country has reached over 544, of which 496 were activists.

It has also made Iranian authorities switch off communications networks across the country, with McEntee questioning why a country would do this, unless they had something to hide.

The difficulties for the Islamic Republic of Iran aren’t just at home, however, as Donald Trump has warned he could take military action against Tehran over the killing of its civilians.

Military action in Iran, whether that’s US troops on the ground in Tehran or strikes against targets in the country, would likely destabilise the region further, with Ms McEntee urging calm.

While Ms McEntee is likely to get plaudits across the board in the Middle East for Ireland’s stance on Palestine, she may have a tougher time once she returns home and has to face the Dáil.

It’s almost certain that her time as foreign affairs minister will be dominated by the Occupied Territories Bill and its status, as the opposition continue to pressure the Government to introduce the bill at pace.

While the inclusion of services has all but been ruled out, with Micheál Martin describing it as “not implementable”, the Coalition will come in for pressure on the opposite benches.

Helen McEntee will not only need to face down the internal critics in the Dáil, but also pressure from the US lobby, who are seeking to kill the law outright.

Upon her return to home soil on Thursday, she will soon find that it will be very difficult to please everybody.

• Tadgh McNally is a Political Correspondent.