Refusal by EU states to address ‘catastrophic' Gaza situation is incomprehensible, Martin says

Irish Times

5 hours ago

The refusal of some
European Union
states to consider supporting any action to put pressure on
Israel
to address the 'catastrophic' humanitarian crisis in
Gaza
was 'difficult to comprehend', Taoiseach
Micheál Martin
has said.
Israel's practice of trying to undermine anyone who questioned the grave conditions facing women and children on the ground in the
Palestinian
enclave has to stop, Mr Martin said.
The Taoiseach was speaking on his way into a summit of EU leaders, where calls from Ireland and others to get the bloc to sanction Israel
are expected to be blocked
.
'I'll be saying to my European colleagues that the people of Europe find it incomprehensible that Europe does not seem to be in a position to [put] pressure on Israel and leverage on Israel, to stop this
war in Gaza
,' he said.
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The EU needed to do what it could to push Israel to stop the 'continuing slaughter of children and innocent civilians', the Fianna Fáil leader said.
Ireland 'would be seeking some mechanisms to ensure that this war stops and that humanitarian aid gets into Gaza', Mr Martin said.
Germany, Italy, Austria, the Czech Republic and Hungary make up the bulk of a camp that are staunchly defensive of Israel, who are likely to oppose any EU effort to ramp up political pressure.
The European Council summit, where the 27 leaders set the union's direction of travel on policy, comes a week on from
an EU review concluding Israel had committed human rights violations
during its war in Gaza. Israeli prime minister
Binyamin Netanyahu's
government has rubbished the review.
Speaking in Brussels, Mr Martin said Israel needed to stop 'denouncing' reports that objectively described the situation in Gaza.
'I think that kind of tactic, pattern of undermining those who would even question what's happening in Gaza, that also has to stop,' Mr Martin said.
There were clear differences of opinion around the table of EU leaders, he said.
'There are historic reasons why certain countries adopt the stance that they adopt on this issue, but in my view the degree of carnage and destruction and the death and injury to children, cries out for a humanitarian response, for a strong political response,' Mr Martin said.
Germany, Italy and others advocate for the EU to raise concerns through diplomatic channels with Israel.
Spain and Ireland have called for the suspension of an EU-Israel 'association agreement', which includes a free trade deal and access to research funding, to leverage Israel to stop the fighting in Gaza.
It is understood during the meeting Mr Martin will raise the idea of the EU putting sanctions on individual Israeli ministers, such as hardliner Itamar Ben Gvir.
The EU summit will also debate ongoing talks to avoid a
tariff war
with the
United States
, the war in
Ukraine
, and renewed efforts to boost Europe's ability to defend itself militarily.
Mr Martin said EU negotiators were working to find a 'landing zone' in negotiations with US president
Donald Trump's
administration. Mr Trump has threatened to levy tariffs of 50 per cent on trade coming from the EU, if a deal is not agreed by July 9th.
The White House has been looking for a range of concessions from the EU, such as a rollback of food safety regulations and the bloc's legal guardrails on tech companies.
'I do genuinely detect an atmosphere that has focused on getting a deal, both on the US side and on the European Union side. That's where our focus in Ireland is, is actually getting a deal,' Mr Martin said.
Europe had to remain united as talks went down to the wire, as nobody would win in a transatlantic trade war, he said.
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