The EU’s collective response to the massacre in Gaza has been weak and inhumane. If EU values stand for anything, that must change
The Taoiseach must request an urgent European Council meeting, at which sanctions on Israel are imposed, if Israel proceeds with a ground invasion in Rafah, according to Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns.
“Israel is moving ahead with its plans to launch a devastating ground invasion in Rafah, despite the almost unanimous appeals of world leaders to abandon such plans.
“There are now more than 1.5 million displaced people in Rafah. Israel wants to “evacuate” them to a so-called “humanitarian zone”. This is outrageous and self-serving propaganda – and must be called out as such.
“There are no humanitarian zones in Rafah, or indeed Gaza, and more than 1.5 million displaced people are sheltering in appalling conditions in this area. They have nowhere to go.
“Any objective analysis of what is going on is clear. Israel is deliberately corralling more than one million displaced people into ever smaller areas on the front lines of its brutal invasion of Gaza.
“It is doing this against the wishes of world leaders, including its cheerleaders in the US and the EU, because it has yet to face any consequences for its genocide in Gaza.
“More than 34,000 Palestinians, including more than 14,000 children, are already dead. How many more dead civilians will satisfy Israel’s rogue government?
“The next European Council meeting is not scheduled until the end of June. The Taoiseach must request an urgent meeting of the European Council at which economic and diplomatic sanctions on Israel are firmly on the agenda.
“The EU’s collective response to the massacre in Gaza has been weak and inhumane. If EU values stand for anything, that must change.”