Israeli authorities intercept Gaza-bound flotilla
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Irish Times
4 minutes ago
- Irish Times
Student with place on UCD master's course still awaiting evacuation from Gaza
The Department of Foreign Affairs said it was aware of the case of a student who needed to be evacuated from Gaza to start her course at University College Dublin . The student, who did not wish to be named, said she was a 25-year-old architect in training. She said she was accepted earlier this year on to a master's degree course in architecture, urbanism and climate action at UCD. The university did not respond to requests for comment. READ MORE The woman has tried to lobby TDs to help her get out of Gaza, so she can start her course this coming academic year. Correspondence seen by The Irish Times showed the student had been advised she would qualify for a visa on the basis of her paperwork, but such a permit would only be issued if the Government approved another evacuation mission. Ireland has so far facilitated the evacuation of a number of third-level students from Gaza to Ireland. In July, a group of nine Palestinian students arrived in Ireland to take up scholarships for the 2025-2026 academic year under the Government's Ireland-Palestine scholarship programme, which is run by Irish Aid . Another three Ireland-Palestine scholarship fellows were evacuated from Gaza in April, having been able to leave in 2024. A spokesman for the department said it was 'aware' of the woman's situation. 'While the department is limited in the assistance it can provide to non-Irish citizens, it is currently exploring options to assist individuals who are eligible to travel to Ireland,' he said. Student activists from universities across Dublin have organised a demonstration on Tuesday outside the department's headquarters at Iveagh House in the city centre. They are demanding the Government facilitate the evacuation of Gazan students who have a confirmed place in Irish universities and are due to begin their studies in September. Many of these Gazan students have received scholarships from the Irish Representative Office in Ramallah through the Irish Aid-run programme, which provides 30 scholarships for one-year master's degrees. Others have received supports from individual Irish universities, often called 'sanctuary scholarships'. 'With few safe passages out of Gaza, these students are being left cruelly stranded by the government that invited them here in the first place,' a coalition of students' unions from Trinity College , UCD, DCU and the National College of Art and Design (NCAD), who organised the protest, said in a joint statement. Harry Johnston, chair of Trinity College Dublin boycott, divestment and sanction group, a student-led pro-Palestinian organisation with no affiliation to the university's administration, said the goal of the protest was 'to demand better from our Government'. He said there were 'over 40 students currently trapped in Gaza' who were to begin their studies in Ireland soon. 'The Department of Foreign Affairs is in charge of issuing visas and should be pressuring Israeli authorities to ensure that these people can escape,' he said. The department's office is a regular place of pro-Palestinian protest. Last May, red paint was splattered on the facade of Iveagh House and in August last year the words 'Gaza BDS now' were painted on Iveagh House in an act that was investigated by gardaí as criminal damage.
Irish Times
3 hours ago
- Irish Times
Campaign to reunify Syria should not be waged by force, says president
Syrian president Ahmed al-Sharaa has said the campaign to reunify the country after years of civil war should not be waged by force, but by integration. 'We still have another battle ahead of us to unify Syria , and it should not be with blood and military force,' he said. Mr Sharaa's remarks were aimed at separatist groups in the southern majority Druze Sweida province which have enlisted support from Israel in their confrontation with Damascus. Thousands joined a protest in Sweida on Saturday, demanding self-determination and raising Israeli flags. They praised Israel's air strikes, which came after hundreds of people were killed in Druze clashes with Bedouin fighters and troops last month. The strikes forced Syrian army units to retreat. READ MORE Mr Sharaa added: 'I do not see Syria as at risk of division. Some people desire a process of dividing Syria and trying to establish cantons,' he said, adding that he regarded this as 'impossible'. [ Rising Sunni populism threatens hopes of rebuilding Syria Opens in new window ] Mr Sharaa has mustered loyalist forces in northwestern Idlib province to force the Kurd-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to put its fighters under the control of the Syrian defence ministry. This move was agreed in March but has not been implemented. The US Syrian envoy Tom Barrack expressed concern last month over the delay and urged speedy integration. The Kurds rule 25 per cent of Syrian territory in the northeast, where they have clashed with both government and Turkish-supported Syrian forces. Turkey regards the SDF as a 'terrorist' organisation due to its ties to Turkish Kurdish insurgents. The US backed the SDF in its 2014-2019 battle with Islamic State. [ Clashes in Syria 'have killed 1,200 and triggered humanitarian crisis' Opens in new window ] Mr Sharaa said Ankara and Washington both seek peaceful reintegration of the oil-rich region. The president's interim government last month established a committee to investigate and report on attacks on Druze civilians which killed nearly 600 people, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory of Human Rights (SOHR). Syria has been plagued with sectarian violence since the ousting of the Assad regime in December 2024. The violence began with attacks on the Alawite community which, according to the SOHR, resulted in the deaths of 1,400 people in the western coastal area of Latakia during March and April.
The Journal
3 hours ago
- The Journal
US envoy calls on Israel to honour Lebanon ceasefire agreement ahead of crucial peacekeeper vote
AS THE VOTE to renew the UN mandate for the peacekeeping mission in Lebanon looms next week a senior US envoy has said it is time for Israel to honour its ceasefire commitments. US envoy Tom Barrack called on Israel to meet its agreement that ended its war with Hezbollah, after the Lebanese government launched a process to disarm the militant group. Under the November truce agreement, weapons in Lebanon were to be restricted to the sovereign state and Israel was to fully withdraw its troops from the country, although it has kept forces at five border points it deems strategic. Hezbollah is a militant group generally based in the south of the country and in the Becca Valley to the north as well as small pockets of Beirut. The agreement would mean that the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) would disarm the powerful Hezbollah and other groups such as Amal. There are more than 330 Irish troops in south Lebanon as part of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). The renewal of the UNIFIL mandate is due on 31 August and a vote will likely take place in the United States Security Council on 25 August in New York. Sources both here and abroad have said that the vote depends on US approval – as reported by The Journal the Trump Regime has sent an envoy to Lebanon and Israel . Israel is driving for the US to withdraw its support and veto the UNSC resolution while French diplomats particularly, along with Ireland and other nations, are campaigning for the mandate to remain. The US envoy Tom Barrack met with the Lebanese President Joseph Aoun to discuss the vote this morning. 'I think the Lebanese government has done their part. They've taken the first step. Now what we need is Israel to comply,' he said. Asked by reporters about whether he expected to see Israel fully withdraw from Lebanese territory, Barrack said that 'that's exactly the next step' needed. To the US diplomat, 'the next step is we need participation on the part of Israel, and we need an economic plan for prosperity, restoration and renovation' in Lebanon, weighed down by dire political and economic crises in recent years. Advertisement Barrack said Washington was 'in the process of now discussing with Israel what their position is', adding that 'in the next few weeks you're going to see progress on all sides.' 'It means a better life for the people… and at least the beginning of a roadway to a different kind of dialogue' in the region, he said. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, right, meets U.S. Ambassador to Turkey and Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack, third left, U.S. deputy special presidential envoy to the Middle East Morgan Ortagus, second left, and U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Lisa A. Johnson, left, at the presidential palace in Baabda, in east of Beirut, Lebanon. Alamy Alamy Disarm The US diplomat's visit comes less than two weeks after Lebanon's cabinet tasked the army with developing a plan to disarm Iran-backed Hezbollah by the end of the year – an unprecedented step since civil war factions gave up their weapons decades ago. A second cabinet meeting on 7 August tackled a US proposal that includes a timetable for Hezbollah's disarmament, with Washington pressing Lebanon to take action on the matter. The cabinet endorsed the introduction of the US text, which lists 11 objectives including 'ensuring the sustainability' of the November ceasefire agreement with Israel, and 'the gradual end of the armed presence of all non-governmental entities, including Hezbollah, in all Lebanese territory'. There were extensive meetings between Lebanese diplomats, including Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji this morning including Britain, which is a permanent member, and current temporary Security Council member Pakistan. The vote in the UN Security Council can be vetoed by one of the permanent countries – there is a fear that the US will veto it in support of Israeli pressure. Multiple sources in Ireland and abroad we spoke to said they are quietly confident of a renewal but that it may come with strict conditions. Israel routinely carries out air strikes in Lebanon despite the ceasefire, and has signalled it would not hesitate to launch destructive military operations if Beirut failed to disarm Hezbollah. The Journal has observed Israeli positions within South Lebanon and close to Irish bases on a recent visit to the region. Irish troops as well as other peacekeepers have been fired upon by Israeli forces and the factions have also attacked peacekeepers. On 9 August, in an apparent effort to show the Beirut Government were serious in their commitment to disarm Hezbollah, six LAF soldiers were killed inspecting a Hezbollah arms bunker. Today Barrack on stressed that 'dealing with Hezbollah, as we've always said, is a Lebanese process'. With reporting from AFP Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
