{"id":16806,"date":"2026-04-09T12:00:47","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T11:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/?p=16806"},"modified":"2026-04-09T12:00:47","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T11:00:47","slug":"taoiseach-must-join-with-spanish-pm-and-demand-eu-sanctions-against-israel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/ga\/taoiseach-must-join-with-spanish-pm-and-demand-eu-sanctions-against-israel\/","title":{"rendered":"Taoiseach must join with Spanish PM and demand EU sanctions against Israel"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>It is disgusting that, as Israel targets and kills innocent men, women and children across Lebanon with impunity, the EU remains silent<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>As Israel commits barbaric war crimes in Lebanon, the Taoiseach must join with the Spanish Prime Minister and demand a suspension of the EU-Israel trade agreement, according to Social Democrats Foreign Affairs spokesperson Patricia Stephenson.<\/p>\n<p>Senator Stephenson said:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe ceasefire agreed between the United States and Iran included an end to Israel\u2019s attacks on Lebanon. That is clear from the text of the agreement circulated by the Pakistan\u2019s Prime Minister.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDespite this, Israel has opted to unilaterally continue its carpet bombing of Lebanon \u2013 in a clear attempt to collapse this fragile ceasefire agreement. Yesterday, it launched what can only be described as a barbaric attack on multiple civilian targets across Beirut leading to huge levels of death, injury and devastation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs it stands, the Strait of Hormuz, which opened briefly yesterday, is now closed again because Israel are in breach of the terms of the ceasefire agreement \u2013 and the region now stands, yet again, on the brink of an escalating conflict.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is despicable and disgusting that, as Israel targets and kills innocent men, women and children across Lebanon with impunity, the EU remains silent. No war crime, committed by Israel, is apparently sufficiently grave for the EU to take action against what is clearly a rogue state.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Spanish Prime Minister is alone in the EU in having forcefully criticised the US and Israel\u2019s illegal war in Iran \u2013 and he has now been heavily critical of Israel\u2019s murderous campaign in Lebanon. He has demanded the immediate suspension of the EU-Israel trade agreement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat agreement should have been suspended long ago, but our own Taoiseach should now work with Spain \u2013 and other EU member states \u2013 to advocate for strong action and sanctions on Israel.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Irish government cannot continue to stand back and remain silent as Israel attempts to annihilate Lebanon and its people \u2013 in the same way that it annihilated Gaza.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It is disgusting that, as Israel targets and kills innocent men, women and children across Lebanon with impunity, the EU remains silent As Israel commits barbaric war crimes in Lebanon, the Taoiseach must join with the Spanish Prime Minister and demand a suspension of the EU-Israel trade agreement, according to Social Democrats Foreign Affairs spokesperson [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":7730,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[718,814,641,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16806","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-israel","category-lebanon","category-patricia-stephenson","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - 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