Written answers
Wednesday, 20 March 2024
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Middle East
Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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53. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will report on his discussions with international partners regarding the air dropping of food to Gaza; the timeframe in which it is intended to do so; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11973/24]
Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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The Government continues to focus our diplomatic engagement in relation to Gaza on the need for an immediate ceasefire, the unconditional release of hostages and humanitarian access. A sustained scale-up in humanitarian access is Ireland’s priority and the priority of all humanitarian actors on the ground.
We have provided €40 million in humanitarian assistance in response to the suffering caused by the conflict in Gaza since last October. This includes €20 million in core funding for 2024 for the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which is mandated to provide life-saving essential services for Palestine refugees. UNRWA is indispensable for the operations of all humanitarian partners in Gaza. Last year, we provided €18 million to UNRWA. We also provided support to the UN Occupied Palestinian Territories Humanitarian Fund, the World Food Programme, the World Health Organisation and the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. These agencies are each playing a critical role, in extraordinarily difficult circumstances, in the provision of humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza.
Through Ireland’s Rapid Response Initiative we have provided 50 tonnes of relief supplies, including 500 family tents and 3000 tarpaulins from Irish Aid emergency stocks for distribution in Gaza. These were distributed to 1,500 families in Gaza, in partnership with Trócaire and Catholic Relief Services. Plans are also in place for the provision of further supplies through the Rapid Response Initiative in the coming weeks. Ireland has also provided three pallets of medical blood bags through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM) in response to a request from the Egyptian health authorities.
Along with a number of other States, Jordan has been leading on the organisation of air drops of essential supplies into Gaza. We are currently working with Jordan on a possible Irish contribution to this this multinational effort, with supplies that we have already pre-positioned in the region.
It is important to note, however, that air drops must not distract from the urgent need to dramatically scale up the level of humanitarian assistance entering Gaza by road. There is no alternative to full, safe and unhindered humanitarian access to and within Gaza if mas hunger is to be avoided. The International Court of Justice made clear on 26 January that Israel must take immediate and effective measures to enable the provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance in Gaza.
Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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54. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade his response to reports regarding Israeli settlers storming the Erez crossing in north Gaza and constructing wooden structures which often precedes action through the Israeli legal system to establish settlements which are illegal under international law; if he has raised this specific incident with the representative of the Israeli government to Ireland; what the Irish diplomatic response would be should Israel attempt to re-establish settlements within Gaza; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11974/24]
Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Ireland, the European Union and other international partners, including the United States, are absolutely clear that Gaza is an integral part of a future Palestinian state. There can be no forced displacement of the civilian population of Gaza, nor occupation of the strip by Israel. All Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, are illegal under international law.
I have also made it absolutely clear in my engagement with Israel as well as with partners within the European Union and in the region that respect for these parameters and for international law, including international humanitarian law, must be central to our response to the immediate crisis and also to our efforts to chart a path to a sustainable peace in the long term.
Continuing, and indeed increasing, Israeli settlement activities dangerously imperil the viability of the two-State solution based on 1967 lines. These concerns are widely held by the international community; the UN Security Council has affirmed that Israeli settlements are ‘a major obstacle to the achievement of the two-State solution and a just, lasting and comprehensive peace’.
Ireland’s comprehensive legal analysis Israeli practices and policies in the occupied Palestinian territory, including our conclusion that Israel has committed serious breaches of international law, was presented by the Attorney General to the International Court of Justice on 22 February, within the context of the Court’s hearings in relation to the Advisory Opinion south by the United General Assembly.
Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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55. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he is aware of the case of a person (details supplied), a Palestinian lawyer and human rights defender, who was arrested by Israeli forces on 19 January 2024, and whose detention has been strongly condemned by Front Line Defenders and the International Observatory of Lawyers at Risk; if he will raise their case at the highest diplomatic and political level in an effort to secure their earliest release; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12011/24]
Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I am aware of the concerning case outlined by the Deputy. I am monitoring the situation through our Missions in the region. My officials are continuing to closely follow issues of arbitrary and administrative detention and conditions in detention. These issues are also being discussed and raised through our Missions.
This is consistent with calls made by Ireland in its bilateral engagement with the Israeli authorities as well as at the United Nations. Ireland has repeatedly called on the Israeli authorities to end the practice of administrative detention completely.
We have also repeatedly highlighted the applicability of international human rights standards and international humanitarian law in respect of detainees, in particular obligations under the Fourth Geneva Convention. Detainees must have the right to be informed of the charges underlying any detention, have access to legal assistance, and receive a fair trial.
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