“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.”
Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris has called on the European Union to “urgently” reconsider its partnership agreement with Israel due to its ongoing war on Gaza that has killed close to 40,000 Palestinians.
His call follows the latest Israeli massacre of displaced families sheltering at the Tabaeen School in Gaza City on Saturday, killing more than 100 and injuring several more.
“I again call for an urgent review of the EU-Israel Association Agreement,” Harris said in a statement on Sunday. “The Agreement contains human rights clauses, and I do not believe it is conscionable for the EU to continue to render them redundant.”
He stressed that this weekend’s attack “brought the grisly milestone of 40,000 deaths in Gaza a step closer.”
‘Horrific Crime’ – Israeli Strike on Tabaeen School Kills over 100 Palestinians
‘Prolonged Catastrophe’
There is growing evidence of “a prolonged humanitarian catastrophe,” the Irish PM said, “and I am particularly disturbed by the confirmation this weekend by 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.”
According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs only 24 of 67 planned aid missions to northern Gaza this month have been facilitated by Israel, he pointed out.
In addition, the United Nations has also assessed that more than 80 percent of the Gaza Strip has been placed under evacuation orders since October of last year.
The world is on the precipice of a shameful moment & a humanitarian catastrophe. We must use all levers to stop it. I again call for an urgent review of the EU/Israel association agreement. It contains human right clauses that must not be redundant
Read – https://t.co/esUrkaYx91
— Simon Harris TD (@SimonHarrisTD) August 11, 2024
“When people are told to leave, they have nowhere to go, so they often go to schools,” he stated.
Yet, 490 of Gaza’s schools have been bombed or damaged since the start of the war, Harris said, “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,” Harris added.
ICJ Orders
The Irish leader stressed that a ceasefire “remains urgently needed” and urged “all sides” to 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,” he said.
Over 80% of Gaza Faced Evacuation Orders, Aid Access Worsens – UN
He also emphasized that: “All the legally binding orders of the ICJ must also be implemented in full,” adding that “too many innocent lives” have been lost in ten months.
“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,” he stated.
Ongoing Genocide
Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza.
Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 39,897 Palestinians have been killed, and 92,152 wounded. Moreover, at least 11,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’.
Al-Tabaeen School Massacre is Part of Zionist Script to Annihilate Palestinians – With US Support
Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.
The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.
Later in the war, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians began moving from the south to central Gaza in a constant search for safety.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
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