Sinn Féin spokesperson on Foreign Affairs, Matt Carthy TD, has said that the Dáil should be immediately recalled this week to advance the Occupied Territories Bill and enact sanctions against Israel.

Speaking in response to the Israeli parliament adoption of a bill prohibiting the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) from working in either Israel or Palestine, Teachta Carthy said ‘Israel will continue until the international community ceases to fund and allow them to commit war crimes at will.’

Teachta Carthy said:

“Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people and waging war against the United Nations.

“It has declared the United Nations Secretary General a persona non grata.

“It has opened fire on United Nations peacekeepers.

“It has in the past year murdered over 200 United Nations employees and slandered UNRWA without providing a single shred of proof.

“A clear purpose of these actions is to undermine UNRWA, removing their ability to provide vital humanitarian and social supports to Palestine, especially in Gaza, and to deepen the occupation, but also crucially to diminish the status of Palestinian refugees and prevent them from ever returning home.

“The adoption of this bill that bans the work of UNRWA is a vile action on the part of a state that has gone beyond rogue.

“Israel’s rejection of the United Nations, UN Charter and international law arise from it having never been held to account.

“This must change and Ireland can lead the way.

“The Dáil should be recalled this week to progress the Occupied Territories Bill and further sanctions against Israel which fall entirely within the remit of the Irish government, including:

– Enact Sinn Féin’s Illegal Israeli Settlements Divestment Bill

– Join South Africa’s case taken against Israel under the Genocide Convention at the International Court of Justice

– Suspend the issuing of dual use export licences for products/service with military use to end users in Israel

– Take immediate action to end the use of Irish sovereign airspace to resupply Israel’s war machine.”