Opposition Dail parties call for action on Gaza ceasefire as death toll reaches 108
All opposition parties in the Dail have called on Tainiste and Minster for Foreign Affairs, Eamon Gilmore, to take action to secure a ceasefire in the Israeli assault on Gaza which has now left 105 Palestinians dead, including 70 civilians, and over 800 injured since Israeli sabotaged an Egyptian brokered ceasefire last Wendesday.
The latest figures from the Irish-Aid funded Palestinian Centre for Human Rights confirm that of the 105 Palestinians killed by Israeli occupation forces, 23 are children and 12 are women and that civilians make up two thirds of the casualties. Of the 805 injuries, 786 are civilians, and numbered among them are 223 children and 130 women. 3 Israelis were also killed as a result of a rocket fired from Gaza.
The PCHR has called for an independent international investigation to address escalating violence in the Gaza Strip, stating that the “evidence indicates war crimes are being committed in the current conflict, including: the direct targeting of civilians and civilian objects, indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks, and a failure to take all feasible precautions in attack and in the choice of methods and means of warfare”.
In Ireland, Fianna Fáil, Sinn Fein and the United left Alliance have all made separate statements calling on the Irish government to work to ensure a ceasefire is implemented and the killing stops.
Finna Fail have said their party was “calling upon the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Eamon Gilmore to ensure that the EU fully endorses efforts led by Egypt in securing a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel”.
Sinn Féin have said that they will “raise the issue with the Tánaiste at every occasion and we hope a peace deal can be brokered immediately”.
The United Left Alliance issued a statement which called for the “immediate cessation of Israeli military aggression against the people and the elected government of Gaza”. The ULA statement went on to demand that the Irish government “immediately propose the suspension of the Euro-Med Agreement with Israel in view of the flagrant Israeli breaches of Article II, which makes the Agreement conditional upon ‘respect for human rights’.”
Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign spokesperson Freda Hughes today welcomed these calls for an immediate ceasefire, saying that “the IPSC is glad that pressure is being brought to bear on Israel to end this barbarous assault on the population of Gaza. However, we feel that talk without action is meaningless; while Israel may hear talk, it will not pay attention. Concrete action is needed to make Israeli listen, and it is needed immediately. The Irish government, soon to assume the Presidency of the EU, should be to the fore in calling for Israel’s suspension from the Euro-Med agreement, of which it is in breach of the human rights clause in Article II. For the government to even call for such a measure would undoubtedly make the Israeli leaders who are waging this campaign of cruel violence sit up and take notice.”
Ms Hughes continued, saying that “we also want our government to call for an arms embargo on Israel; to ensure that no Irish state-funded institution engages in any cultural, academic, or economic cooperation with the state of Israel or its associated institutions; and to support the cessation of all grants to Israel made under the EU’s framework programme for research.”
Ms Hughes concluded by saying that “the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign calls on ordinary people to take five simple steps to help end the Israeli attack on Gaza, from emailing politicians to boycotting Israeli products like diamonds, foodtsuffs and plastics. You can see the list at www.ipsc.ie/5simplesteps“.