‘Moral failure' – Michael D Higgins writes letter to fellow European presidents calling for action on Gaza
Along with President Higgins, the group includes the presidents of 15 countries: Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia and Slovenia.
President Higgins wrote a letter to the group highlighting a number of the crises facing the people of Gaza, including the reported 6,500 children admitted for treatment for acute malnutrition last month alone.
'My dear friends and colleagues in the Arraiolos Group," he wrote to the group.
'I write to you with a deep sense of grief. Unacceptable violence continues to cause immeasurable suffering in Ukraine, Sudan and too many other parts of our shared world.
'I am sure that we all remember with horror the moment when news broke of the horrific atrocities carried out by Hamas as we returned from our meeting of the Arraiolos Group in Porto in October 2023.
'These atrocities were rightly condemned by all member states. We were not silent and called for the unconditional release of all hostages.
'While Israel has a right to defend itself, we cannot let that horrific event provide a licence or cover for the totally unacceptable loss of life, including from malnutrition and dehydration by infants and mothers that is now being perpetrated in Gaza.'
President Higgins used the letter to highlight that Gaza's entire population is in crisis due to acute food insecurity. He said 80pc of cropland and 83pc of agricultural wells have been destroyed.
He also pointed to the steps called for by UN secretary general António Guterres: an immediate ceasefire, the unconditional release of all hostages, and full, unimpeded humanitarian access.
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More than 1,000 Palestinians, mainly children, have been killed while seeking aid, while 20,000 mothers in Gaza 'are being subjected to conditions of dehydration and malnutrition with all the consequences to their own life and those of their children'.
At the end of his letter, the President asked the other members of the Arraiolos Group to 'add their voice to those calling for an end to the loss of life of civilians'.
'I also firmly believe that collectively, the Arraiolos Group has a strong voice and leadership role to offer in relation to what is happening in Gaza. Silence, failure to take an initiative will be rightly construed as a moral failure,' the letter concluded.
'As a fellow member of the Group of Arraiolos and your colleague, I would respectfully ask the Group to consider adding its powerful voice to the international community calls for a halt to the avoidable loss of life of civilians in Gaza, the unconditional release of all hostages, and full-unimpeded humanitarian access to Gaza.
'My dear colleagues, I look forward very much to hearing from you at this deeply distressing time.'
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