The Tanaiste has described Israeli strikes in Gaza as a “war crime”, saying that people are being forced from their homeland.
It comes as Palestinian medical officials said that an Israeli strike in Gaza had killed a family of eight.
The strike late on Saturday hit a home in the Nuseirat refugee camp, killing parents and their six children who ranged in age from eight to 23, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in nearby Deir al-Balah where the bodies were taken.
Micheal Martin said the scenes unfolding in Jabalia, north of Gaza, are “horrific” and must stop.
“An offensive by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF), backed by tanks and air strikes, has left dozens of civilians dead, many close to starvation, and access to humanitarian aid extremely curtailed,” Mr Martin said in a statement.
“An entire population is being encircled and forced out, with nowhere for them to go.
“This represents a mass expulsion of people from their homeland.
“It is a war crime, and the international community must use every lever at its disposal to pressure Israel to stop this war.
“The UN and the world’s media must be allowed immediate access to witness what is happening. This war must end.
“I will be raising our profound concern and the urgency of bringing an end to this devastation at the Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Luxembourg tomorrow.”
Meanwhile, Minister for Justice Helen McEntee said the escalating violence in Lebanon is “extremely worrying”.
She said the safety of Irish peacekeepers is consistently kept under review.
On Saturday, it was reported by the United Nations that another peacekeeper was injured by gunfire in southern Lebanon.
The peacekeeper at the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) headquarters in Naqoura was hit by gunfire on Friday following ongoing military activity in the area.
Unifil said it could not confirm the origin of the gunfire.
Ms McEntee said on Sunday: “Our troops are accounted for, they’re safe, but we can clearly see things are escalating even further, and the violence and the escalation in the region is extremely worrying.
“This is something that is kept under consideration consistently, we’re getting hourly reports from the UN as to what is happening.
“Obviously, the uniform troop work together. Our peacekeepers are not the only country there represented, and the decision had been taken over the last number of weeks to stay there.
“These are hugely capable, experienced peacekeepers, but we need to make sure that they are safe, and obviously, following that announcement, I’m sure there will be further engagement in our Taoiseach.
“Israel are not listening here. Israel have crossed international law. They do so every time they injure and kill innocent civilians, be it in Gaza or elsewhere, and now they are directly targeting uniform peacekeepers.”
Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon was critical of the Taoiseach’s visit to the US where he met with President Joe Biden earlier this week.
“I think there was an incredible opportunity this week for Simon Harris to say something meaningful,” he said.
“The two things he didn’t say was the word genocide, which Israel is carrying out in Gaza using US weapons.
“He also didn’t highlight to the US president, that those same weapons being fought on the Unifil troops have been provided with the US.
“He could have made a stand and called for the suspensions of arms sales, such as the Spanish prime minister did a very short time after our Taoiseach left.
“I think he failed in his obligations to ourselves. I think he failed his obligations under the Genocide Act and I think he really let down those peacekeeping troops, not just the Irish ones, but the other 10,000 who are putting themselves in harm’s way.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel