Tánaiste and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ireland, Micheál Martin, has said that Ireland is “certainly very open” to imposing a travel ban on Israeli settlers in the West Bank.
Speaking before the meeting of EU Foreign Ministers that took place yesterday, Martin urged the leaders of the European Union to call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza.
The same highlighted that he is very worried about the extreme violence of Israeli settlers in the West Bank, who, according to him, are terrorising Palestinians, causing their displacement.
As The Journal explains, speaking ahead of the meeting, Martin also said that Ireland believes that sanctions need to be imposed as soon as possible on “extreme terrorist settlers on the West Bank”.
Martin further said that the government of Ireland wants to work together with the EU on sanctions. However, he stressed that they are already very open to the idea and, at the same time, said that Ireland wants to push the EU to impose sanctions as an entity.
We have to be very clear, I think from a European Union level, that we do not in any way find this behaviour by the settlers acceptable, that we must take action to demonstrate both symbolically and in real terms, our opposition to what’s going on in the West Bank right now.
Ireland’s Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has already signed a letter together with Belgium, Spain, and Malta, requiring the EU to take measures and call for a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza.
According to The Journal, the letter said that the EU must act and should not permit the situation to deteriorate further.
Commenting on the letter, Martin said yesterday that what the people of Gaza are going through is horrifying. He additionally stressed that there is no justification for the continuing bombardment.
The situation in Gaza is absolutely dire. We are witnessing human catastrophe on a scale that we haven’t seen for quite some time.
In response to the calls, the foreign policy chief of the European Union, Josep Borrell, said yesterday that he would propose sanctions against settlers who are responsible for violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.
After the meeting held in Brussels, Borrell told the reporters that the time has come to move forward with actions. He said that the EU needs to start adopting measures in response to the acts of violence against Palestinians.
A formal proposal on sanctions against Israeli settlers will be submitted soon, and then the Member States will jointly make a decision on the matter.
