Ireland will push for a tougher international response to Israel after the publication of a tender for 1,200 housing units in the occupied West Bank, the Minister for Foreign Affairs has said.
Minister McEntee condemned the Israeli government’s decision to issue the tender under the E1 settlement project, a plan that Palestinians and international critics say could sever the territorial continuity needed for a future state.
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Her comments came after an Israeli man providing security for Jewish settlers who entered a Palestinian village shot and killed a teenager.
Palestinian officials said the same gunman also injured a 70-year-old man.
In a statement today, Ms McEntee described the E1 project as a “fundamental threat” to the prospect of a contiguous Palestinian state and said it ultimately weakened the possibility of a two-state solution.
She said every Israeli settlement in Palestine was illegal under international law and called on Israel’s government to “immediately rescind this tender” and halt “all illegal settlement activity”.
Minister McEntee urged “the occupying power” to “protect the Palestinian population under its control” (File image)
Ms McEntee said: “Recent attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinian villages and communities, in some cases alongside Israeli Defence Forces, are utterly indefensible.
“They form part of an alarming and escalating pattern of violence by extremist settlers that is terrorising Palestinian communities. There must be accountability for these actions.
“This violence is taking place against the wider backdrop of ever-increasing illegal settlement construction and growing restrictions on the daily lives of Palestinians across the West Bank.
“As the occupying power, Israel has a duty to protect the Palestinian population under its control.”
Ms McEntee also urged Israel to lift restrictions affecting the Palestinian Authority’s finances and release tax revenues that have been withheld.
She said: “The publication of this tender demands a clear and robust response.
“Ireland has taken action at domestic level and will continue to press for a stronger and more co-ordinated response from the European Union and the wider international community.
“The EU must be prepared to respond decisively to actions that violate international law and further erode the prospects for peace.
“Ireland will continue to advocate for meaningful international action and for a peaceful, secure and prosperous future for Palestinians, Israelis and the wider Middle East.”
The foreign ministers of Turkey, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have also condemned Israel’s settlement policies in Palestinian territories and said they categorically rejected the E1 project.
“The Ministers call for immediate action to halt the “E1″ settlement plan, rescind all measures taken in connection with it, and cease all settlement activities and other measures aimed at altering the geographic and demographic character of the Occupied Palestinian Territory,” they said in a joint statement, describing the plan as a “dangerous escalation” that would further expand settlements and advance the annexation of Palestinian land.
Israeli shoots dead Palestinian teen after settlers enter West Bank village
An Israeli man guarding Jewish settlers who entered Palestinian village land today opened fire at Palestinians who confronted them, killing a 17-year-old and wounding a 70-year-old man, officials said.
The shooting in the occupied West Bank village of Sa’ir followed the latest of what the Israeli military calls “unauthorised hikes” by settlers. Palestinians regard such incursions into village outskirts as acts of intimidation.
The Palestinian villagers threw rocks at the settlers, “who were present in the area without advance authorisation”, the Israeli military said. It added that some settlers were injured.
“A security official opened fire in the area, and there are Palestinian casualties as a result of the shooting,” the military said in a statement.
Palestinian officials said the 17-year-old was shot in the chest and died. The 70-year-old man’s condition was not immediately known.
Sa’ir is located near Hebron in the southern West Bank, an area where the Palestinian Authority has civil control and Israelis are generally barred from entering.
The West Bank, where 3m Palestinians live alongside around 500,000 settlers, has experienced growing settler violence and increasing seizures of land and resources. A settler siege of homes in the village of Qusra this week prompted international condemnation.
United Nations bodies and most countries consider the settlements illegal under international law governing military occupations. Israel rejects that position, pointing to what it says are biblical ties to the territory.
In Jenin, in the northern West Bank, Israeli troops shot and killed a Palestinian man overnight during a raid on his home, Palestinian officials said. The military said soldiers opened fire after he tried to stab them. No troops were injured, it added.
Israel PM calls Turkey’s Erdogan ‘antisemitic dictator’
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today described Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as an “antisemitic dictator” and said Israel would “continue to act forcefully against Turkey’s attempts to destabilise the region”.
The statement came days after Syria accused Israel of bombing an air base in northern Syria, a short drive from the Turkish border. Mr Netanyahu later appeared to acknowledge the strike without directly confirming it.
Mr Netanyahu had claimed that Turkey was seeking to establish a military presence at the site, while Turkey has denied that any visit took place there.
The latest exchange also follows Turkey’s announcement on Friday that it had sought an international arrest warrant for Mr Netanyahu, accusing him of “genocide” over Israel’s interception of an aid flotilla bound for Gaza.
“Israel has long been unimpressed by Turkey’s hypocrisy. Erdogan is an antisemitic dictator who massacred Kurds, supports the massacre of the Hamas terrorist organisation, and oppresses his own people,” Mr Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.
It added that Israel would “continue to act forcefully against Turkey’s attempts to destabilise the region and against any threat to its security”.
