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Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the international community had failed the Palestinian people, warning that continued violence, restrictions on humanitarian assistance and settlement expansion were weakening prospects for a lasting peace.
Addressing the UN General Assembly in New York on Thursday, Martin said the international legal order was under “tremendous strain”, according to Anadolu Agency. He described the denial of fundamental human rights to millions of people as one of the defining challenges of the current era.
Martin welcomed the first phase of a Gaza peace plan agreed by Israel and Hamas last October, but said it had not fundamentally changed conditions on the ground. He pointed to continued Israeli attacks, restrictions on aid deliveries and the suffering of civilians.
“We, the collective international community, have failed Palestine,” Martin said, referring to the continuing suffering of civilians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
He said the eventual disclosure of evidence and testimonies concerning events in Gaza would bring shame on the world.
“Nobody will be able to say that we did not know,” Martin said.
Warning over settlement expansion
The Irish prime minister condemned the expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, saying it was eroding the prospects for a just and lasting peace.
“What we are witnessing on the ground is a deliberate attempt by some to make the prospect of a two-state solution impossible,” Martin said.
He referred to statements attributed to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opposing the establishment of a Palestinian state, as well as Israel’s approval of development in the E1 area of the occupied West Bank.
Support for the International Criminal Court
Martin also reaffirmed Ireland’s support for the International Criminal Court and said there could be “no impunity for war crimes”. He called for the withdrawal of measures intended to undermine the court.
