The Tánaiste said there was no evidence that the government’s criticism of Israel was hindering efforts to get Irish citizens out of the Gaza Strip, reports Breaking News.
On Sunday, an estimated 35-40 Irish passport holders remained in the country and none of them were on the list of international nationals who could leave for Egypt via the Rafah crossing.
Tánaiste Michael Martin insisted that Israeli authorities and Egyptian officials were assisting Irish diplomats in their efforts to get the nationals out.
Ireland criticizes Israel’s bombing of the Gaza Strip.
Last week, Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said some of Israel’s actions in Gaza were not mere self-defence and amounted to “something more approaching revenge”, reports Breaking News.
The prime minister admitted that Israel would not consider Ireland a close friend or ally because its position on Palestine differs from that of most Western countries.
“This war is bringing nothing but death and misery and it has to stop, and it should stop,” Mr Martin said, reports Breaking News.
“I’ve always been of the view that the bombing of dense urban areas, inevitably, there’s no question, you cannot do it without killing civilians and killing children. And I don’t believe there has been any proportionality attached to this, it’s disproportionate by any measure, and it’s not necessary,” he added, reports Breaking News.
This Sunday, Sinn Féin TD Eoin O Broin defended his party’s stance.
“At a certain point in time, given the fact that we now have 10,000 people dead, 2,000 people unaccounted for, you have to start using every single means available to you to put pressure, and so far, despite the fact that rightly the Irish Government and the majority of us in opposition have called for a ceasefire, the government in Israel is simply not listening and, therefore, the Israeli ambassador’s position is simply no longer tenable while this onslaught continues,” he told RTÉ, reports Breaking News.
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