The Irish Independent's View: Collective inaction on Gaza is a dark stain on humanity
One wonders if 21st-century life has really become so transactional as to be impervious to the traumas of defenceless children. If such is the case, we are in a very dark place.
Surely the unwarranted cruelty witnessed daily in Gaza is intolerable to a rules-based order. Yet it appears that, even after 22 months, there are no depths of agony from which the people of the enclave can hope to be spared.
The starvation in Gaza is of a magnitude that medics sent in to help are collapsing from hunger
And so US secretary of state Marco Rubio thought it fitting to lash out at France for becoming the first G7 nation to recognise Palestine as a state. It was, he said, a 'slap in the face' to the families of the victims murdered by Hamas.
Can he be unaware that since then, 60,000 Palestinians have been killed? Concerns for them and their remaining loved ones and the worsening death toll seems non-existent.
All death is deplorable. To be casual about the mass taking of life is to risk being trapped in an inescapable moral vacuum.
The starvation in Gaza is of a magnitude that even the medics sent in to help are collapsing from hunger. At the same time, the killing of desperate people – many of them children taking on the responsibility of fending for the families – continues.
The lines of the skeletal and the destitute queuing for whatever scraps they might be offered belong in the Dark Ages. As daily bombardments continue, Israeli troops fire near where the aid is handed out.
Recently returned from Gaza, Dr Nick Maynard told RTÉ he had seen young boys who were shot in the testicles. He believed they had been used as target practice as their wounds were all of a similar nature.
But even as the deaths from starvation mount, Israeli heritage minister Amichai Eliyahu went on radio to claim: 'There's no hunger in Gaza.'
Israel 'is racing ahead for Gaza to be wiped out', he said, calling Palestinians 'indoctrinated Nazis'. 'Thank God we are wiping out this evil,' he added.
I can't imagine I'm going to die of starvation after 21 months of bombing
One female doctor is quoted in the Washington Post as saying: 'I can't imagine I'm going to die of starvation after 21 months of bombing. We are all walking towards death.'
Atrocities are no less atrocious because they are carried out by elected politicians and facilitated by democratic governments.
Yet in this darkest hour, Donald Trump and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu appear to be abandoning peace talks.
Mr Netanyahu said it was clear that Hamas did not want a deal, and Mr Trump said they would have to now be 'hunted down'.
That Hamas needs to be brought to account is not in question. But this 'forever war' in which civilians and children are deemed worthless and expendable is unjust and indefensible and must be stopped.
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RTÉ News
28 minutes ago
- RTÉ News
Silence on Gaza will be 'moral failure', says President
President Michael D Higgins has urged his European counterparts to call for action on Gaza and said "failure to take an initiative will be rightly construed as a moral failure". Dozens of people in Gaza have died of malnutrition in recent weeks, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run enclave, with aid groups warning of mass hunger. President Higgins made the comments in a letter to the Arraiolos Group, which represents non-executive European presidents. "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 said. Israel's war in Gaza for the past 21 months began in response to an unprecedented attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas on 7 October 2023, killing 1,200 people with 250 taken hostage. The Israeli assault has left much of Gaza, home to more than two million Palestinians, in ruins, and according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry has killed around 60,000 people, most of them civilians. In the letter, President Higgins reiterated a call from UN Secretary General António Guterres for an immediate ceasefire, the unconditional release of all hostages and full, unimpeded humanitarian access. He said he believes 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. "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," President Higgins said. The Arraiolos Group represents presidents from Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Ireland, Latvia, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia and Slovenia.
Irish Independent
30 minutes ago
- Irish Independent
‘Moral failure' – Michael D Higgins writes letter to fellow European presidents calling for action on Gaza
The Arraiolos Group is made up of non-executive European presidents and meets once a year. 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. ADVERTISEMENT 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.'
The Irish Sun
an hour ago
- The Irish Sun
Harrowing moment desperate Gazans overrun food trucks as Israel challenges UN to ship in more aid after pausing fighting
THIS is the harrowing moment starving Palestinian people overrun food trucks carrying aid into Gaza as the humanitarian crisis grows. Israel challenged the United Nations on Sunday to carry out its pledge to 9 This is the harrowing moment starving Palestinian people overrun food trucks carrying aid Credit: X 9 Massive crowds were seen trying to reach aid Credit: X 9 Six-year-old Yusuf Abdurrahman Matar and his four-year-old brother Emir Abdurrahman Matar face life-threatening malnutrition amid the deepening humanitarian crisis in Gaza Credit: Getty Distressing footage shared by Turkish news site TRT shows a sea of starving Gazans desperately climbing onto vehicles to reach food. Some individuals appear to manage to grab boxes of aid, while other malnourished people seem to scramble to safety due to the heaving crowds. Israel is facing condemnation from international aid groups as well as governments due to the deepening humanitarian crisis. Aid groups warned that Palestinians are on the brink of famine, with one in five children suffering from malnutrition. read more news The UN warned that civilians in the besieged enclave are becoming "walking corpses". But prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that his country isn't employing starvation as a cynical tactic. He also denied that starvation was occurring at all in Gaza - despite harrowing footage of aid sites being overrun, images of emaciated children, and local authorities reporting deaths from malnutrition. Netanyahu told a conference in in Jerusalem: "There is no policy of starvation in Gaza and there is no starvation in Gaza." Most read in The US Sun Israel has previously . Following two months of restricting UN aid convoys in favour of the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), the IDF said "humanitarian pauses" in fighting were being implemented to let in more UN aid. Watch hundreds of brave Gazans cry 'Hamas OUT' as rare peace protests against terror regime's war with Israel erupt They also said "secure routes to enable the safe passage of UN and humanitarian aid organisation convoys delivering and distributing food and medicine to the population across the Gaza Strip" had been set up. Three Jordanian and Emirati supply planes were also permitted to drop aid into the starving strip, but the quantity delivered of 25 tonnes is said to be tiny compared to what the UN can deliver on the ground. The World Food Programme (WFP) said 60 trucks of aid had been dispatched - but this amount fell short of Gaza's needs. WFP Regional Director for the Middle East, North Africa , and Eastern Europe, Samer AbdelJaber said: "Sixty is definitely not enough. So our target at the moment, every day is to get 100 trucks into Gaza." The Programme explained how almost 470,000 people in Gaza are enduring famine-like conditions, with 90,000 women and children in need of specialist nutrition treatments. Netanyahu said, making it unclear whether the lifting of restrictions on UN convoys came due to mounting international pressure: "Whichever path we choose, we will have to continue to allow the entry of minimal humanitarian supplies. "There are secured convoys. There have been all along, but today it is official. There will be no more excuses." On Monday, the Gaza health ministry said at least 14 people had died in the past 24 hours of starvation and malnutrition, bringing the war's death toll from hunger to 147, including 89 children. Last week, more than 100 aid agencies warned that mass starvation was spreading across the Palestinian enclave. 9 Palestinians wait to receive food from a charity kitchen, amid a hunger crisis, in Gaza City Credit: Reuters 9 Palestinians, who lost their relatives in Israeli attacks, mourn as the deceased are being brought to Nasser Hospital in Gaza's Khan Yunis Credit: Getty 9 Palestinians wait to receive food from a charity kitchen, amid a hunger crisis, in Gaza City, July 28, 2025. REUTERS/Khamis Al-Rifi Credit: Reuters The military also said Saturday that it had connected a power line to a desalination plant, expected to supply daily water needs for about 900,000 Gazan people. Israel's foreign ministry said the military would "apply a 'humanitarian pause' in civilian centres and in humanitarian corridors" on Sunday morning. The announcement came after indirect ceasefire talks in Doha between Israel and Hamas were broken off with no deal in sight. The UN said that humanitarian pauses in Gaza would allow "the scale up of humanitarian assistance". The Israeli military stressed that despite the humanitarian steps , "combat operations have not ceased" in the Gaza Strip. in the face of global ceasefire pleas and huge protests in Tel Aviv. 9 A boy cries as he tries to receive food 9 Trucks carrying aid enter Gaza through the Rafah border crossing today Credit: Getty 9 Smoke rises after Israeli warplanes bombed buildings in a residential area Credit: AFP
