EU's divided stance on Gaza war 'a stain' on bloc, says Taoiseach
Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said the inability of member states to come to a unified position on Israel's assault on Gaza has become a "stain" on the EU.
He was speaking ahead of an EU summit tomorrow, where leaders will assess last week's report that Israel is in breach of the human rights and international humanitarian law clauses, which underpin its trade and political relations with the EU.
Asked about the small number of national capitals which continue to veto tougher action at EU level against Israel, Mr Martin described it as "very disappointing".
Mr Martin said he "did understand" at the outset after the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October that there "are historic issues" and that "there have been historic alliances" between some member states and Israel.
"That's all understood, but in light of what is happening - and we are only seeing what is on our screens - I've called consistently now, over a good period of time, for access to Gaza, for the world media and for governments to get in and see what actually has been the impact of this war," he said.
The Taoiseach said UN reports had revealed that 85% of schools had been destroyed and that most hospitals had been damaged.
"There's endless destruction and killing, and it is a huge stain on the European Union in terms of its inability to come to a unified position on the more fundamental humanitarian issues, whatever about some of the political issues," he said.
"In terms of fundamental humanitarian issues, there's a lack of urgency in terms of European Union response, notwithstanding the fact that Europe is still the biggest donor to the Palestinians in terms of humanitarian aid," he added.
However, the Taoiseach added that "a lot of the aid simply isn't getting in".
A review of Israel's actions in Gaza and the West Bank, ordered by the EU's foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, concluded that Israel was guilty of multiple violations of Article 2 of the EU-Israel Association Agreement.
Ms Kallas will brief EU leaders at a summit in Brussels tomorrow on the findings of the report.
She has said she will raise the findings with the Israeli authorities in the hope that it will convince them to massively increase humanitarian support in Gaza and to move towards a ceasefire.
Ahead of the summit, Irish sources have expressed disappointment that there is no consensus yet at member state level for a list of options that could be taken against Israel.
EU foreign ministers will return to the issue in July at which point a menu of options - possibly including suspending aspects of the EU-Israel Association Agreement - is likely to be discussed.
Ms Kallas has said one option could be that member states could ban goods produced in Israeli settlements in the Occupied Territories.
Ireland has joined a push by eight other countries - led by Belgium - for the EU to provide for a ban on such goods as a result of the advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice, which last summer held that the occupation was illegal and that signatories to the UN Charter should not facilitate trade with illegal settlements, or do anything to facilitate the expansion of settlements designed to frustrate a two-state solution.
The Government supports the Belgian move and says the rationale also underpins the Occupied Territories Bill.
The Taoiseach said: "Everybody in the room needs to reflect on the enormity of the catastrophe in Gaza and the slaughter of innocent children and civilians, the starvation of families.
"Israel is not in compliance with the human rights clauses of the association agreement, and in our view, there have to be consequences for that.
"Europe needs to speak with a very strong voice to end this blockade and to get vital humanitarian aid into the population of Gaza - otherwise, Europe will not have credibility if it doesn't do so."
Earlier, Ireland's EU Commissioner Michael McGrath warned that any definitive EU position on Israel's actions in Gaza was the preserve of member states, and as such there was simply no consensus on how Europe should respond to the Article 2 review.
He said Ms Kallas would raise the findings with Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar and would report back to EU foreign ministers next month.
Speaking to reporters in Brussels, Mr McGrath said it was the EU's foreign policy chief's "hope" to be in a position to report humanitarian progress "on the ground".
He said: "But there's no guarantee whatsoever of that.
"Ultimately, any proposal by the commission is subject to the agreement of the council [of ministers], and at this point in time, based on the discussions and the public positions of member states, a consensus is not there."
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