Ireland calls on Israel to lift blockade of humanitarian aid reaching Gaza 'immediately'

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) - The Irish taoiseach (prime minister) said on Tuesday that Israel's continuing blockade of humanitarian aid is pushing Gaza closer to a hunger crisis, urging Tel Aviv to lift the blockade immediately.

Addressing a summit, Micheal Martin said that there must be an immediate ceasefire, the release of all remaining hostages, and the resumption of unhindered humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza "at an unprecedented scale."

"Israel's continuing humanitarian blockade is pushing Gaza closer to hunger crisis. This must be lifted immediately. It is simply wrong, in principle and in law, to inflict hunger and suffering on a civilian population, whatever the circumstances," said Martin, whose nation’s experience of the Irish Potato Famine still casts a long shadow.

Saying that this behavior "clearly constitutes a war on crime," Martin added that it is also "wholly unacceptable" to contemplate the mass displacement of people in Gaza or to talk of permanent occupation.

"Not only is it an affront to decency and to international law, history tells us it offers absolutely no solution,” he underlined, reaffirming Ireland's position to support the implementation of a two-state solution, calling it "the only way to establish lasting peace and security for both Israel and Palestine and the wider region."

Nearly 2.4 million people in Gaza live completely dependent on humanitarian aid, according to World Bank data.

Since March 2, Israel has kept Gaza’s crossings closed to food, medical, and humanitarian aid, deepening an already humanitarian crisis in the enclave, according to government, human rights, and international reports.

Figures released by Gaza’s government media office showed that at least 57 Palestinians have died of starvation since October 2023.

More than 52,600 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in a brutal Israeli onslaught since October 2023, most of them women and children.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in November for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.

The new Israeli plan is said to involve international organizations and private security contractors to hand out boxes of food to individual families in Gaza.