Palestinians gather at the site of Israeli strikes on a camp for internally displaced people in Rafah. Photograph: Eyad Baba/AFP via Gettyin a “real way” for the first time over its continued military campaign in the besieged city of Rafah in Gaza, Tánaistewhen an Israeli air strike hit tents housing displaced people in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, which took place despite the International Court of Justice ordering Israel to immediately halt its assault on the city.
“There have been sanctions against Hamas in respect of its murderous activity. There have been sanctions against violent West Bank settlers,” he said. “People talked today about potentially Israeli government officials who may be aiding and abetting those violent West Bank settlers,” he said. Speaking earlier at a press conference in Brussels, Mr Martin said the portrayal of Ireland’s decision to recognise the state of Palestine as a reward for the terrorism of Hamas militants could not be further from the truth. The response of the Israeli government to the decision was “outside of diplomatic norms” and did not reflect well on Israel, he said.
José Manuel Albares, Spanish foreign affairs minister, suggested the EU should consider taking action against Israel if it continued to ignore the recent ICJ court order. “I think that this time we have to raise our voice, not only for an immediate ceasefire, but also to back international law and the United Nations charter,” he said.
Espen Barth Eide, Norwegian foreign affairs minister, said the ongoing war in Gaza was a “low point” in the history of the Middle East. “We have extreme violence in Gaza, we have Israelis living in fear of terrorism and rocket attacks, and we have settler violence and the expansion of illegal settlements in West Bank,” he said.