Politics

‘Stop this horror of history,’ says President Higgins as Israel moves to ban aid agency

Taoiseach Simon Harris says Europe needs to find the ‘moral courage’ to act on the issue

Palestinians walk past damaged buildings in Khan Yunis on the southern Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. Photograph: Bashar Taleb/AFP
Palestinians walk past damaged buildings in Khan Yunis on the southern Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. Photograph: Bashar Taleb/AFP
Gráinne Ní Aodha, PA
Tue Oct 29 2024 - 20:28

President Michael D Higgins has said it is “time to stop this horror of history” after Israeli legislators passed laws that could threaten the work of the main UN agency providing aid in Gaza.

Mr Higgins called on all EU and UN member states to make “clear” their support for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (Unwra) and repeated his calls for a ceasefire and for the hostages to be released.

The Irish Government has raised strong concerns about what Israel’s efforts to sever ties will mean for the already limited flow of aid to civilians in the Palestinian enclave.

“100,000 people in northern Gaza, the majority women and children, are effectively trapped with no safe place to go to. Two of their three hospitals are destroyed and one is under siege,” Mr Higgins said in a statement.

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“Older people are dragged from their hospital beds and the extraordinarily brave medical staff who have stayed with the most vulnerable are paying with their lives and the threat of arrest.

“Silence from those who have had the best of aspirations for the EU and its future during a grave humanitarian catastrophe would be more than disappointing, it damages the union.

“Given the circumstances of people starving to death, the placing under attack of the United Nations agency that is responsible for keeping them alive constitutes an appalling failure of diplomacy and the use of starvation as a weapon of war.

[ What is Unrwa and why has Israel’s parliament voted to ban it? ]

“It is time to stop this horror of history. Palestine and Israel will ultimately have to live together in spaces adjacent to each other.”

Ireland issued a joint statement with Spain, Norway and Slovenia condemning the vote in the Israeli parliament that would ban Unwra from operating in Israeli-controlled lands. The Knesset also voted to cut formal ties between Israel and the organisation.

The moves come amid Israeli claims that Unwra maintains close ties with Hamas – allegations the agency strongly rejects.

Speaking on Tuesday, Taoiseach Simon Harris said that Europe needed to find the “moral courage” to act on this issue.

“More people will die, more children will starve, there is no alternative to Unwra,” the Taoiseach said.

“They’re not just my words, they’re the words of the UN secretary-general, they’re the words of the president of the United States through his State Department.

“Unwra is needed, it is absolutely essential and the actions we have seen in the Knesset really are absolutely shameful.

“I’ll be talking to (incoming European Council president) Antonio Costa this afternoon about how Europe now needs to find the moral courage in my view to act in relation to this.”

The chief executive of Irish charity Trocaire, Caoimhe de Barra, said it was “appalled” at the Israeli parliament’s decision.

“Banning Unwra is a gross violation of humanitarian law as it’s deliberately inflicting even greater depravation and harm on a civilian population in the middle of a war.

“This is appalling. All states must now pressure Israel to reverse this decision immediately.” - PA