Ireland and China ‘agree ceasefire is required’ in Gaza, says Tánaiste on Beijing visit

Ireland is focused on securing the release of eight-year old Emily Hand from Gaza and had alerted governments throughout the region to her situation, Tánaiste Mícheál Martin has said.

“Our primary objective is to facilitate her release along with the release of all of the other hostages. It’s a very, very traumatic situation for the Hand family to be in. It’s just horrific. So we hope and pray we can get her out,” he said.

Mr Martin was speaking in Beijing following a two-hour meeting with China’s foreign minister Wang Yi, during which they discussed the conflict in the Middle East and international diplomatic efforts to free hostages from Gaza and end the killing.

Ireland and China both voted in favour of a United Nations General Assembly resolution calling for a ceasefire, on which most European Union member-states abstained.

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“We both agreed that a humanitarian ceasefire was required, that too many civilians were losing their lives, too many children are losing their lives. As I said at the weekend, it needs to stop. And in my view, the bombing of Gaza is disproportionate without question. The issue of necessity arises in the context of international humanitarian law and people should be held to account for any incidents that have occurred that are in violation or potentially in violation of international humanitarian law.

“I did indicate to the foreign minister that we had been speaking to the foreign minister in Iran, to the foreign minister in Qatar, to the Egyptian foreign minister, to the Israeli foreign minister, the Saudi Arabian foreign minister, the UAE Foreign minister and so on around all of these issues,” he said.

On Monday, Mr Martin said, aside from Emily Hand, “we’re not aware of any other Irish citizen being held hostage by any group in Gaza”.

He said Ireland had spoken to “all the key interlocutors” in the region about her abduction by Hamas during its October 7th terror attack, adding that he could not comprehend calls from some opposition TDs to break off diplomatic relations with Israel.

“I think there needs to be more reflection in public discourse around the importance of diplomacy, what it exists for. It exists to maintain access when you need it to help your citizens. It enables dialogue on issues that you’re concerned about. Particularly in times of conflict and war, it’s the most fundamental and basic of channels that people keep or countries keep intact to enable people to find a way out of this.

“Going way back over the last four or five decades, it was diplomatic channels enabled resolutions to war and to conflict, which ultimately leads to the betterment of all citizens,” Mr Martin said.