Sinn Féin National Chairperson Declan Kearney has called on the Irish government to exert maximum diplomatic and political pressure through the European Union and its role in the UN Security Council in direct response to the latest wave of Israeli aggression against Gaza.

The South Antrim MLA said:

“During the last 24 hours waves of Israeli missile attacks have been launched against the Gaza Strip in Palestine, resulting in multiple civilian deaths, including infant children. Civilian homes have also been destroyed and infrastructure and public services in Gaza have again been disastrously impacted. The humanitarian crisis is deepening.

“All these actions represent systematic violations of international law. A dramatic step change is now urgently required from the international community regarding the actions of the Israeli government. Ritual words of condemnation and calls for cessation of hostilities are no longer tenable or adequate.

“At the same time as illegal settler expansion is being enabled across the West Bank and East Jerusalem, Israeli forces are routinely shooting dead Palestinians with total impunity. These, and continued incursions into the West Bank and Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem have brought brought the situation in Palestine to a new level of dangerous volatility.

“The Irish government should now take the lead, and exert maximum diplomatic and political pressure through the European Union and its role in the UN Security Council, to demand that decisive diplomatic and political force is taken against Israel. There must be consequences for the latest war crimes being perpetrated against the Palestinian people.

“There should no longer be any equivocation. The full weight of international outrage must now be leveraged against the Israeli government to end its apartheid actions, and illegal occupation of Palestine in all its parts.

“The Irish government has a moral, diplomatic and political responsibility to act now.”