Irish leader calls out EU over alleged double standards on international law in Gaza
Ireland’s Taoiseach Simon Harris told a meeting of the European Council in Brussels that he wants the EU to address the alleged double standards in relation to its support for international law in Ukraine but not in Gaza.
The DPA news agency reports that Harris told the high-level meeting on Thursday that when discussing the Russian invasion of Ukraine, many countries outside of Europe respond by raising the civilian casualties inflicted by Israel in Gaza. And they ask why the EU does not support international law “in relation to the Middle East”, Harris told the meeting, according to DPA.
Prior to the meeting, Harris told reporters that he was hopeful legislation would be passed shortly, banning trade in Ireland with the illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Harris also said that the recent comments by Israel’s foreign minister accusing him of anti-Semitism were to “distract” from the Israeli military’s killing of tens of thousands of Palestinian children in Gaza.
Such personal attacks will not deter Ireland from its stance on Gaza, he said.
“What it won’t do is deter us, won’t deter me personally, and won’t deter this Irish government or the next Irish government from continuing to speak up and speak out in favour of international law,” Harris said, according to The Irish Times.
“I’m passionate about Europe, but we’re not doing enough. We’re not doing nearly enough to end the conflict,” he added.
Sweden will no longer fund UNRWA: Minister
Benjamin Dousa, the Nordic country’s aid minister, says Stockholm has decided not to give funds to the UN refugee agency for Palestinians any more. The minister told the Swedish TV4 channel that the country will instead provide humanitarian assistance to Gaza via other channels.
Lazzarini condemns Sweden’s decision to stop UNRWA funding
The head of the UN refugee agency for Palestinians says Sweden’s move “comes at the worst time” for the refugees.
Philippe Lazzarini said on X: “Defunding UNRWA now will undermine decades of Sweden’s investment in human development including by denying access to education for hundreds of thousands of girls and boys across the region.”
“For the people of Gaza, this decision will double their suffering endured over the past 14 months since the horrendous Hamas attack on 7 October and the ongoing war,” he added.
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