The decision by the Israeli military to tell the civilian population in the north of the Gaza Strip to move southward for their own safety has “unrealistic, unworkable and deeply dangerous”, Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin has said.
In his most strongly-worded statement on the Israeli military response to the atrocity perpetrated by Hamas on October 7th, Mr Martin said that the “terrible humanitarian consequence” of that decision was now being seen.
Mr Martin said the Irish Government was calling for a “humanitarian pause” in the Israeli bombardment to allow humanitarian corridors to be established.
He said he had spoken to a senior UN official on Monday who explicitly told him that without urgent access, particularly to water and fuel, Gaza would be facing a “catastrophic situation” within days.
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Mr Martin said Hamas and the population of Gaza had to be distinguished.
“Let us be clear that international humanitarian law explicitly prohibits the taking of hostages, the use of civilians as human shields, the locating of military objectives within, or near, densely populated areas; all actions that Hamas are, and have been, engaged in.”
The Tánaiste was speaking at a meeting of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, chaired by Fine Gael TD Charlie Flanagan.
He also disclosed that he had a 50-minute conversation on Monday night with the Iranian foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian.
“This is an incredibly dark period. It will get darker. The prospects of regional escalation are very real. In speaking with the Iranian foreign minister I stressed the urgent need for Iran to use their influence to urge restraint with other groups in the region, above all to Hizbullah,” Mr Martin said.
“I was unambiguous about the responsibility of all States to work to calm the situation, as well as to bring all possible pressure to bear to release the 200 hostages in Gaza, immediately and unconditionally.”
Mr Martin also said he had engaged, or would be engaging, with senior ministers and officials in Israel, Egypt, the UN, Jordan and United Arab Emirates.
Mr Amirabdollahian told Mr Martin Iran does not have influence over Hamas, nor did he resile from his stance that the Hamas attack was part of a war of resistance.
Several members of the committee, notably Matt Carthy of Sinn Féin, brought up the stance of EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen in which she has consistently defended Israel’s right to defend itself against Hamas without making any reference for its need to abide with international law.
“I would regard it as a very regretful and unhelpful role she has played,” said Mr Carthy.
In a comment that was also received as directed at the outspoken criticism made by President Michael D Higgins of Ms von der Leyen, Mr Martin said there were different perspectives in the EU. “We can rail against that. It’s easy to condemn it. I would rather sit with 27 Member States around the table and engage with people who look at things through a different perspective to us,” he said.
“If we in these international forums end up calling each other out across the table, we will not make much progress,” he said.
Senator Gerard Craughwell specifically referenced Mr Higgins’s remarks saying he either had authority from the Government to make them, or had strayed well outside his constitutional remit.
Mr Martin did make strong criticism of Commissioner for Enlargement Oliver Várhelyi over his tweet that the EU was “reviewing” aid to Palestine in the wake of the Hamas attack. “He took an individual solo run in just announcing a cessation of aid when there was no consultation. He certainly did not have any authority to do that,” said the Tánaiste.
Speaking of the role of the Irish Defence Forces personnel in neighbouring South Lebanon, Mr Martin said he wanted to acknowledge the bravery and dedication of the troops there.
He referred to their families for whom the last 10 days had been a “particularly worrying time. I want to assure their safety and security is our paramount concern,” he said.
