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Irish Foreign Minister Micheál Martin: “collective punishment of an entire population”

Photo: Bing Guan / REUTERS

Israel is increasingly coming under international criticism for its actions in the Gaza Strip; South Africa is accusing the country of genocide against the Palestinians in an ongoing lawsuit before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague. In a first preliminary decision at the end of January, the court had already obliged Israel to provide humanitarian aid in the coastal area.

However, whether this is now being done to a sufficient extent remains controversial. Ireland is now pushing to expand the definition of genocide. Foreign Minister Micheál Martin announced that the country will intervene in the proceedings at the ICJ and argue that the restrictions on food and other basic foods could constitute genocidal intentions.

"We will ask the court to consider the question of how to determine whether genocide has occurred or not based on the collective punishment of an entire population," Martin told the Guardian. "We believe that, given the way this war was fought, there is a case," said the minister. However, Martin left it open what specific participation in the ICJ proceedings will look like.

According to Martin, half of the population in the Gaza Strip is at risk of famine and the entire population is affected by food insecurity. Martin expressed himself in a similar way to that of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk.

The UN Human Rights Commissioner raised allegations of genocide

Türk said in Geneva last week that he saw signs that Israel was using hunger in the Gaza Strip as a method of war. This is a war crime, said Türk. "The situation with hunger, starvation and starvation is a consequence of the extensive Israeli restrictions on the import and distribution of humanitarian aid and commercial goods, a consequence of the displacement of most of the population and the destruction of important civilian infrastructure," said Türk.

The UN has been warning of an imminent famine catastrophe for weeks. Around 1.1 million people there are in the worst situation. Israel has been conducting a comprehensive military operation in the Gaza Strip for almost six months and, despite massive criticism, is planning an offensive in the city of Rafah, which is overcrowded with refugees.

The trigger for the war was the massacre by Hamas and other Islamist groups in Israel on October 7, 2023. Around 1,140 people were killed and around 250 others were abducted to the Gaza Strip. According to health authorities in Gaza, more than 32,000 people have died as a result of Israeli attacks. The information cannot be independently verified.

In December, South Africa accused Israel of “genocide” before the ICJ because of the Israel-Gaza war. The court ordered Israel at the end of January to do everything possible to prevent genocide, protect the Palestinian population and enable humanitarian aid during its military operation in the Gaza Strip. Another urgent appeal by South Africa against Israel over its impending military offensive in the town of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip has been rejected.

Great famine in Ireland claimed hundreds of thousands of lives

The Irish move is also likely to be motivated by the country's own history. As a result of the so-called Great Famine between 1845 and 1849, around a million people died in what is now Ireland, which was still completely under British control at the time. Despite food shortages caused by potato blight, Ireland continued to export food to Britain. The famine still shapes Irish national consciousness today.

Ireland has long been committed to an independent Palestinian state.

fek/Reuters