Ireland summons Israeli ambassador over Gaza killings

By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal

LONDON (AA) - Ireland summoned the Israeli ambassador on Tuesday following the violence and killings by Israeli soldiers along the Gaza border, according to Irish media reports.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney met with ambassador Ze'ev Boker early Tuesday morning.

"Ireland's shock and dismay at the level of death and injury yesterday on the Gaza Strip," said Coveney, the independent.ie reported.

Coveney also called for “restraint” from Israel in the hours and days ahead.

At least 60 Palestinians were martyred and thousands wounded by Israeli gunfire along the Gaza border on Monday during protests marking the Nakba anniversary and opening of the US embassy in Jerusalem.

"The ambassador has been informed of Irish demands for an independent international investigation into yesterday’s deaths led by the UN,” a spokesman for Coveney said.

"Our mission in Ramallah reports that emergency responders in Gaza and the strip's health services are overwhelmed with the level of casualties,” he said.

The spokesman also underlined that "the health system [in Gaza] was already facing major challenges due to lack of equipment and essential medicines".

He said Ireland is also "very disturbed" by the injuries suffered by health workers as reported by the WHO as 211 health workers were attacked while attending to the injured during the protests.

Since the border rallies began on March 30, more than 90 Palestinian demonstrators have been martyred by cross-border Israeli gunfire, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

The rallies are to culminate on Tuesday, the 70th anniversary of Israel's establishment -- an event Palestinians refer to as the "Nakba" or "the Catastrophe".

Last week, the Israeli government said the ongoing border protests constituted a “state of war” in which international humanitarian law did not apply.