Taoiseach Simon Harris has said that this weekend brings the “grisly milestone” of 40,000 deaths in Gaza “a step closer”, as he condemned an Israeli airstrike on a school-turned-shelter.
This follows a statement by President Michael D Higgins in which he condemned the “outrageous level of killing” in Gaza and called for an immediate ceasefire after an Israeli airstrike hit a school-turned-shelter.
Around 80 people were killed in the strike on the school in central Gaza City on Saturday, which also left another 47 people injured, Gaza’s health ministry said.
Statement by President Higgins following strike on school site in Gaza City https://t.co/qleSgsFl2X
— President of Ireland (@PresidentIRL) August 10, 2024
Simon Harris said there is growing evidence of a “prolonged humanitarian catastrophe”.
The Fine Gael leader said he is “particularly disturbed” by a confirmation from 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.
“The Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs also says that only 24 of 67 planned aid missions to northern Gaza this month have been facilitated by Israel,” Mr Harris said in a statement.
“The United Nations has also 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.
“Some 490 of Gaza’s schools have been bombed or damaged since the start of the war, and this weekend’s images from inside al-Taba’een school are gut-wrenching. Ireland condemns outright such awful and wholesale loss of civilian life.
“A ceasefire remains urgently needed, and all sides must immediately work in good faith to bring one about.
“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.”
In an earlier statement, Mr Higgins also condemned the attack on a Gaza school where a reported 6,000 displaced people were sheltering.
He urged all EU member states to take seriously the EU Foreign Affairs Representative Josep Borrell’s assertion that there is no justification for the “massacres” “following the targeting of at least 10 schools”.
“Practical measures of a diplomatic kind are now urgently needed to ensure there is no further extension of the loss of life and total devastation of infrastructure in the region,” he added.
“There is no room anymore for anyone to avert their gaze.
“The outrageous level of killing must end with an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages, and the immediate provision of all necessary aid.”
