Ireland’s prime minister says international community has failed Palestine

Irish Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Micheal Martin said Thursday that the international community has failed the Palestinian people, warning that continued violence, humanitarian restrictions and settlement expansion are undermining the prospects for a lasting peace.

Addressing the UN General Assembly in New York, Martin said the international legal order was under “tremendous strain,” adding: “The denial of the fundamental human rights of millions of people around the world remains one of the defining challenges of our time.”

He said the first phase of the Gaza peace plan agreed upon by Israel and Hamas last October was welcome but had not fundamentally changed conditions on the ground, pointing to continued Israeli attacks, restrictions on humanitarian assistance and the suffering of civilians.

“We, the collective international community, have failed Palestine,” Martin said, referring to the continuing suffering of civilians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

“When the full truth of what has happened, what is still happening in Gaza is finally known, when the evidence is gathered, when the testimonies are heard, when the true horrors are finally and fully revealed, it will shame the world. Nobody will be able to say that we did not know,” he said.

He condemned the expansion of illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, saying the developments were eroding the prospects for a just and lasting peace.

“What we are witnessing on the ground is a deliberate attempt by some to make the prospect of a two-state solution impossible. This is not some mad conspiracy theory. It is the stated intent of the prime minister of Israel (Benjamin Netanyahu),” Martin said.

He cited remarks attributed to Netanyahu opposing the establishment of a Palestinian state, as well as Israel’s approval of development in the E1 area of the occupied West Bank.

Martin also reaffirmed Ireland’s support for the International Criminal Court, saying there could be “no impunity for war crimes,” and called for measures aimed at undermining the court to be withdrawn.