Justice Minister Helen McEntee said she personally wanted Ireland to formally support South Africa’s case against Israel under the Genocide Convention at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
Mr McEntee said he welcomed the ICJ’s ruling but wanted to see further progress in calling for a ceasefire.
Fine Gael TDs came after the ICJ ruled on Friday that South Africa’s accusations that Israel was in breach of the Genocide Convention were sufficiently plausible to order emergency measures to protect Palestinian lives. He spoke on RTÉ Radio 1’s This Week program on Sunday.
It also called on Gaza to release all hostages captured in the October 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel that sparked the Gaza conflict, and to allow Israel to deliver sufficient humanitarian aid to its coast. commanded the armed forces. Much of the population there faces “crisis-level” hunger.
The full case on whether Israel violated the treaty will be heard at a later date. Although the court stopped short of ordering a ceasefire that South Africa had sought, it did provide guarantees to Israel that its military would not kill Palestinians in the Gaza Strip or cause them serious physical or psychological harm. He called for an “immediate” halt to acts of genocide.
Asked whether Ireland wanted to formally support South Africa’s case, Mr McEntee said:
“What you’re doing is essentially accusing other countries of genocide. You need to know the facts, you need to understand what this lawsuit is about. We therefore welcome this week’s ruling.
“Personally, I would have liked to have seen further progress on the ceasefire. Instead, I fully respect the judgment that has been handed down.” Mr McEntee said the government would now consider the judgment. He said he intended to do so and could not “jump in” without understanding the facts.
Separately, the Palestinian ambassador to Ireland said he would not support government or opposition representatives to decline invitations to the White House on St. Patrick’s Day.
The head of the Palestinian National Mission, Dr Jilan Wahabah Abdalmadjid, said he “respects” the decision taken by Irish politicians regarding his annual visit to the United States. “I’m not saying go or not…I know how important this visit is,” she said.
Sinn Féin is facing criticism from People Before Profit and pro-Palestinian campaign groups over plans to attend St Patrick’s Day events in Washington because of US support for Israel in the conflict.
The Palestinian ambassador said he hoped Irish politicians attending meetings at the White House and Capitol Hill would raise the Gaza war “in a serious way” during discussions with the US government. “Keep the Palestinian cause in your hearts, minds and talks,” she said. She said Ireland should use its close relationship with the US to advance its cause for a ceasefire in Gaza and for Palestinian self-determination.
Sinn Féin deputy leader Michelle O’Neill said in a recent statement that the party was planning its annual trip to the United States “in pursuit of peace.” Mr O’Neill said that during the visit Sinn Féin would “advocate for an end to Israel’s genocidal war and occupation in Gaza and the West Bank” and call for a “Palestinian peace process”.
The Ireland-Palestinian Solidarity Campaign has called on all politicians to decline invitations to travel to the US to meet President Joe Biden on St Patrick’s Day due to the country’s role in supporting Israel. Ta. “This has been our view long before Israel’s genocide against the Gaza population,” the campaign group said in a recent statement.
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