Irish PM calls for ‘urgent review’ of EU-Israel partnership deal

Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris has urged the European Union to reconsider its partnership agreement with Israel due to Tel Aviv’s ongoing atrocities against Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip and elsewhere across the occupied Palestinian territories.

Speaking yesterday, Harris said more than 80 per cent of Gaza is under evacuation orders, adding that Palestinians are seeking shelter in schools which are being attacked.

“We have all been horrified by the many undoubted war crimes that have been committed in Gaza. There can be no impunity. Those responsible must be held to account,” he added.

Harris said he is “particularly disturbed” by reports from the United Nations that “the number of aid deliveries reaching Gaza has halved to fewer than 80 trucks a day in June and July.”

He also stressed that the world is “standing at the precipice of a horrific moment and yet all levers to bring an end to the violence are not being used.”

Read: France, Germany, UK join calls for ‘immediate resumption of negotiations’ in Middle East

“All the legally binding orders” of the International Court of Justice must also be “implemented in full”, he added.“Too many innocent lives have been lost in ten months,” he said.

Ireland, he said, calls for “an immediate ceasefire, the unconditional release of Israeli hostages and for aid trucks to flow unimpeded.”In February, Spain and Ireland called for an urgent review of the EU trade agreement with Israel over Tel Aviv’s continued attacks on Gaza.

A month later, more than 200 non-governmental organisations from around the world called for an immediate suspension of the EU-Israel partnership deal, which grants Tel Aviv privileges in the European market.

They stressed that “Israel has not fulfilled the basic elements” of the deal, and called for its immediate suspension due to the human rights violations Tel Aviv has committed.