President Michael D Higgins has urged his European counterparts to call for action on Gaza and said “failure to take an initiative will be rightly construed as a moral failure”.
Dozens of people in Gaza have died of malnutrition in recent weeks, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run enclave, with aid groups warning of mass hunger.
President Higgins made the comments in a letter to the Arraiolos Group, which represents non-executive European presidents.
“I write to you with a deep sense of grief. Unacceptable violence continues to cause immeasurable suffering in Ukraine, Sudan and too many other parts of our shared world.
“I am sure that we all remember with horror the moment when news broke of the horrific atrocities carried out by Hamas as we returned from our meeting of the Arraiolos Group in Porto in October 2023.
“These atrocities were rightly condemned by all member states. We were not silent and called for the unconditional release of all hostages.
“While Israel has a right to defend itself, we cannot let that horrific event provide a licence or cover for the totally unacceptable loss of life, including from malnutrition and dehydration by infants and mothers that is now being perpetrated in Gaza,” President Higgins said.
Israel’s war in Gaza for the past 21 months began in response to an unprecedented attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas on 7 October 2023, killing 1,200 people with 250 taken hostage.
The Israeli assault has left much of Gaza, home to more than two million Palestinians, in ruins, and according to the territory’s health ministry has killed around 60,000 people, most of them civilians.
Gaza’s civil defence agency said 16 people were killed by Israeli fire this morning in the Palestinian territory.
In the letter, President Higgins reiterated a call from UN Secretary General António Guterres for an immediate ceasefire, the unconditional release of all hostages and full, unimpeded humanitarian access.
He said he believes the Arraiolos Group has a “strong voice and leadership role to offer in relation to what is happening in Gaza”.
“Silence, failure to take an initiative will be rightly construed as a moral failure.
“As a fellow member of the Group of Arraiolos and your colleague, I would respectfully ask the Group to consider adding its powerful voice to the international community calls for a halt to the avoidable loss of life of civilians in Gaza, the unconditional release of all hostages, and full-unimpeded humanitarian access to Gaza,” President Higgins said.
The Arraiolos Group represents presidents from Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Ireland, Latvia, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia and Slovenia.
