Politics

Countries should stop sending arms to Israel if they want end to conflict in Gaza, Tánaiste says

Government exploring possibility of contributing to multinational Gaza food aid air drops

Micheál Martin said EU and world leaders had to keep the pressure on Israel to get aid into Gaza. Photograph: Niall Carson/PA

Marie O'Halloran
Thu Mar 7 2024 - 14:31

Countries should stop sending arms to Israel if they want an end to the conflict in Gaza, the Tánaiste has told the Dáil.

Micheál Martin also said the Government is exploring the possibility of contributing to a multinational effort to parachute food aid to Gaza and was “actively engaged” with Jordan which is leading the initiative.

But Labour foreign affairs spokesman, Brendan Howlin, said air drops are “entirely ineffective”, with 34,000 or 38,000 meals being delivered to two million people from the air “and not even delivered where they’re needed or accessible”. He asked “what are we going to do to ensure that food is delivered before people die in unimaginable numbers”.

The war in Gaza and impending famine dominated Leaders’ Questions and earlier questions on foreign affairs and the Tánaiste told TDs the international community may consider the use of UN forces to ensure the safety of aid convoys into Gaza.

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[ Hamas leaves Gaza ceasefire talks but negotiations ongoing ]

He warned that the EU and world leaders had to keep the pressure on Israel to get trucks into Gaza, and food drops “can never be used as an excuse for not doing the obvious ... to open up the borders and allow a sufficiency of aid in”.

Mr Martin said the area “is not just on the cusp of a famine but on a social breakdown and there needs to be constant pressure on Israel”.

During Leaders’ Questions he told Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns that he agreed with EU vice-president Josep Borrell that other countries should stop sending arms “in order to bring an end to this conflict”.

Ms Cairns had hit out at the US and EU countries and said “it’s their bombs and their bullets that have killed 30,000 Palestinians”.

“Arms exports from Germany to Israel have increased tenfold since October. Weapons from Germany now make up nearly 30 per cent of Israel’s total military imports.”

The Cork South-West TD said while the UK had concerns Israel might be breaching international human rights law this had not stopped it selling weapons to Israel.

Ms Cairns said western countries’ “shameful record in Gaza amounts to the normalisation of mass murder and devastation”.

The Israeli government is denying entry to thousands of trucks carrying aid and lined up for miles at border crossings. “They are making a deliberate choice to starve these children.”

She said that “just because many countries in the West have lost their moral compass that doesn’t mean we have to given we are in a minority and advocating for Gaza”.

The Tánaiste said Ireland has not lost its moral compass and said other countries should stop sending arms to bring an end to this conflict.

“But Israel is reckless with its own allies. And is it is reckless with the region. But above all, it’s reckless in terms of the lives of ordinary Gazans and the people of Gaza. Absolutely reckless in terms of allowing what’s happening to happen on a daily basis and what we’re witnessing is a complete collapse of cohesion, societal cohesion within Gaza.

The State’s priority he said, “has been an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. We have worked with the Palestinian Authority, Saudi Arabian foreign minister, Jordanian, Egyptian and others.

“I sent two officials over last week to Jordan to work with them in terms of the Arab peace plan that’s emerging. And it’s imminent.”

And the plan was “essential in the context of any ceasefire that might happen over the next number of days”.

Ms Cairns called on the Tánaiste to stop the “empty” words as she called for a recognition of the Palestinian state. Mr Martin said he believed in substantive action and that was what the State was doing. He accused her of trying to score points “or sort of suggesting you are more virtuous than everybody else in the House on this question. I think that we need to dispense with that kind of approach.”

Independent TD Cathal Berry had asked about reports that the Government was considering participation in air drops. He said that if the Oireachtas tried to slap sanctions on Israel “they just slap sanctions back on Ireland” and other corporations would probably do so as well. “And I think life on the ground will be very, very difficult for our troops, for humanitarian workers and our diplomats.”

But air drops would ensure women and children were fed and would send a symbolic, but powerful message as well to the Israeli parliament, the Knesset.

Mr Martin confirmed Ireland was actively exploring the possibility of contributing to food aid parachute drops and he had spoken to Jordan’s foreign minister, with Jordan acting as lead country in organising the initiative.

Earlier he told Mr Howlin that since the ICJ (International Court for Justice) made an order for provisional measures, international humanitarian assistance entering Gaza, by land had halved.

“And the WFP (World Food Programme) had to withdraw from distributing aid in northern Gaza, given the deterioration of the security situation.”

Following interventions by Ireland he said restoration of funding to UNWRA, the UN humanitarian aid agency in Gaza, had recommenced. Ireland last month announced €20 million in funding and the European Commission is distributing €50 million, while Canada is also restoring funds to the agency. Funding had been withdrawn after a number of employees were accused of being member of Hamas.

Mr Martin said the “dial is shifting” but the international community “has to keep the pressure on to get the trucks into Gaza and if necessary, come up with mechanisms be they international UN forces or whatever to ensure safety of convoys into Gaza in terms of ending famine and ending malnutrition that clearly is happening now to so many children across Gaza”.

The Wexford TD said the pressure being applied was “ineffectual” and had actually led to a reduction in aid. He also asked if there would be an independent investigation into the more than 100 deaths after Israel opened fire on hundreds of people who surrounded aid trucks arriving into Gaza.

Mr Martin said he joined EU and UN calls for a “credible and impartial investigation to establish the facts of this appalling event, an incident those responsible must be held to account. International humanitarian law is unambiguous on this point. Israel must protect civilians and ensure basic services in Gaza.”

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Marie O'Halloran

Marie O'Halloran

Marie O'Halloran is Parliamentary Correspondent of The Irish Times

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