Micheál Martin: Gaza's civilians cannot be allowed to suffer any further
Israeli soldiers take positions near the Gaza Strip border, in southern Israel. Picture: Ohad Zwigenberg/AP Photo
The human catastrophe we are witnessing in Gaza cannot continue.
In just over two months, 18,000 Palestinians have been killed in the area, about 70% of whom are women and children.
Around 1.9m people — nearly 85% of the entire population — have been displaced by the ongoing military operations.
It is impossible to ignore the scenes and reports that are coming from Gaza on a daily basis.
Whole families being killed in bombardments, parents being torn apart from their children, unspeakable trauma being inflicted on generations.
Hamas’s abominable attack on Israel, killing approximately 1,200 people and taking over 240 hostages was utterly reprehensible.
Such inhumanity against civilians is impossible to comprehend.
I witnessed the devastation first hand when I visited Kibbutz Be’eri — where nine-year-old Irish-Israeli girl Emily Hand was cruelly taken hostage — last month. But the humanitarian situation in Gaza is now unconscionable and beyond comprehension.
This is not acceptable. Gaza’s civilian population cannot be allowed to suffer any further. They urgently need fuel, food, water, and medical supplies, on a sustained basis and at scale.
The conditions were already appalling when I raised concerns during my recent visit to the Middle East and have only deteriorated further amid the constant bombardment by the Israeli military.
As the UN secretary general Antonio Guterres and the commissioner-general of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, have stressed, there are over 1.3m displaced people registered in 154 UNRWA facilities across Gaza.
This has created overcrowded, undignified, and unhygienic conditions, in which more than 700 people use a single toilet, women give birth, and people nurse open wounds.
UNRWA staff are still operating health centres, managing shelters, distributing food, and supporting traumatised populations while putting their own lives on the line.
A total of 134 UN staff — their colleagues — have been killed in bombardments, mostly alongside their families.
At least 70% of UNRWA staff are displaced from their own homes and are among those lacking basic needs such as food, water and shelter. Others have nowhere to shelter, with hospitals having become battlefields.
These figures speak for themselves. This is not effective protection of civilians. This situation is utterly dire and inhumane, with large parts of Gaza destroyed and rendered uninhabitable, and the humanitarian system at severe risk of collapse.
As the needs in Gaza continue to increase, Ireland has allocated a further €9m to address the critical humanitarian need.
This brings Ireland's direct humanitarian aid to €22m since October.
I have been in consistent contact with several regional partners since the 7 October attack, including during my visit to the region last month and my attendance at Cop28 in the UAE last week, and a key message from all was the importance of Ireland’s voice in shaping the response of the international community. Due to our consistent diplomatic commitment to the issue, Ireland’s voice on the conflict is a significant one.
Earlier this week, I attended the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels to meet with my counterparts. I called for a unified EU position for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, stressing that calls for “humanitarian pauses” are no longer sufficient. The situation in Gaza is far too grave.
I also sought agreement on sanctions against extreme violent settlers in the West Bank who are attacking and displacing Palestinian communities. I am very pleased that agreement has been reached to develop some proposals in this regard.
Ireland has also co-signed a letter alongside the leaders of Spain, Malta, and Belgium to EU Council president Charles Michel urging all EU leaders to call for an urgent humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza that could lead to an end in hostilities.
At the UN, Ireland co-sponsored and voted in support of the General Assembly Resolution which calls for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, the immediate and unconditional release of hostages, and on all parties to protect civilians and respect International Humanitarian Law.
Ireland deeply regrets the failure of the Security Council last Friday to agree a similar resolution.
We have consistently said that the veto is an anachronism and has no place in the 21st century.
Friday’s resolution had 13 of 15 votes in favour, and was co-sponsored by a total of 102 UN Member States, including Ireland, yet was not adopted.
It is now more important than ever that the international community respond with the utmost urgency. We must act now to ensure security for Israeli and Palestinians and a renewed political horizon.
Ireland will continue to take an assertive and principled stance at the UN and EU in terms of support for a two-State solution and in calling out actions and policies that take us further from this goal.
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