Sinn Féin spokesperson on Foreign Affairs Matt Carthy TD has said that legal advice published today creates ‘a legal imperative for Ireland to meaningfully sanction Israel and enact the Occupied Territories Bill and Illegal Israeli Settlements Divestment Bill’.

Authored by Professors of EU Trade Law at King’s College London and the City University of London, Carthy describes the legal opinion as a ‘scathing rebuke and correction of the advice the Taoiseach and Tánaiste have been using as a shield to avoid sanctioning Israel for nearly a decade.’

Speaking after attending the launch of the legal advice, Teachta Carthy said:

“Israel’s near year long genocidal campaign against Gaza has now killed at least 40,819 Palestinians, including more than 16,456 children.

“They have targeted hospitals and healthcare workers, the injured, women and children and journalists.

“They breach the most fundamental treaties of international law and international humanitarian law on a daily basis, more recently seeking to expand the scale of brutality already endured by Palestinians in the West Bank to equal that unleashed on Gaza.

“And yet the Irish government, which rightfully has taken action in support of Palestine, has as of yet cowed from introducing any meaningful sanctions against Israel.

“Government must now move to enact the Occupied Territories Bill and the Illegal Israeli Settlements Divestment Bill.

“Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have been dragging their heels for too long as a genocide unfolds in front of our eyes.

“Israel is in breach of international law and Ireland has yet to meaningfully sanction it.

“The Occupied Territories Bill was introduced more than 6 years ago, has passed in the Seanad and was approved by the Dáil to proceed more than 5 years ago.

“Sinn Féin’s Illegal Israeli Settlements Divestment Bill passed Second Stage in the Dáil last year and has since been the subject of every obscure legislative delaying tactic by government, meaning that Irish taxpayer money continues to be invested in companies which operate in illegal Israeli settlements within Palestine.

“Government is hiding behind advice from the Attorney General which has today been exposed as critically flawed at the time it was written, outdated and irrelevant in the context of Israel’s genocide and subsequent ICJ ruling.

“Not only does today’s legal advice lay bare that there is no excuse for not enacting the Occupied Territories Bill, but there is in fact a legal imperative as a matter of urgency to enact both bills.

“Sinn Féin welcome that the Taoiseach has sought fresh legal advice himself in relation to trade with Israel, but this advice cannot be limited to trade with the Occupied Territories – government must seek the Attorney Generals advice in relation to invoking Ireland’s right to challenge the European Commission on its failure to act regarding genocide.”