Ireland is failing its responsibilities to uphold international law by refusing to progress the Occupied Territories Bill, according to Social Democrats foreign affairs spokesperson Patricia Stephenson.<\/p>\n
Senator Stephenson said:<\/p>\n
\u201cOn Tuesday, Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen said that new measures to expand the country\u2019s control of the occupied West Bank in Palestine amounts to \u2018de facto sovereignty\u2019 of the region.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese measures enable even further forceful removal of land from Palestinians, in clear contravention of international law.<\/p>\n
\u201cYesterday, It was also announced that Israel will begin to execute Palestinians for crimes which they will imprison Israelis for – it is unconscionable that our government refuses to take action when such grave violations of human rights are taking place.<\/p>\n
\u201cForeign Affairs Minister Helen McEntee started the week by admitting that there is no timeline for the implementation of the Occupied Territories Bill, a statement which is at odds with what was agreed on by the Foreign Affairs Committee.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe coalition parties received a mandate from the Irish people in the election when they promised to pass this legislation – the OTB has become just another promise that Fine Gael and Fianna F\u00e1il have regened upon.<\/p>\n
\u201cPassing this bill is the bare minimum to meet our obligations under the International Court of Justice\u2019s ruling – the actions of the US, Israel\u2019s strongest ally, in Venezuela, its threats towards Greenland and its treatment of those in ICE detention reflect a willingness to break international law whenever it suits its interests.<\/p>\n
\u201cIreland relies on international law – why doesn\u2019t the government push for it to be upheld by passing this legislation?<\/p>\n
\u201cIsrael continues to murder with impunity while European leaders talk about the progress of the Gaza peace agreement – there is no peace in Palestine.<\/p>\n
\u201cMinister McEntee and the government must pass the Occupied Territories Bill and take credible action to address Israel\u2019s crimes – we must fight to uphold international law with actions, not just words.\u201d<\/p>\n
February 11th, 2026<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Ireland is failing its responsibilities to uphold international law by refusing to progress the Occupied Territories Bill, according to Social Democrats foreign affairs spokesperson Patricia Stephenson. Senator Stephenson said: \u201cOn Tuesday, Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen said that new measures to expand the country\u2019s control of the occupied West Bank in Palestine amounts to \u2018de […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":13968,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[595,738,641,7,732],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-occupied-territories-bill","category-palestine","category-patricia-stephenson","category-press-release","category-west-bank"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n