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Republic of Ireland’s Foreign Minister Charlie Flanagan said that Ireland abstained from voting for an official probe into war crimes in Gaza since it wanted faster action using already existing mechanisms. He also said that there was little time to introduce new probe.
The UN Human Rights Council backed the probe inquiry with 29 out of 46 votes in favor of the investigations.
Seventeen members, most of them from the EU, abstained from voting while the US voted against the motion.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to the vote by saying that the UN Human Rights Council was a “travesty of justice and fairness”. According to officials, over 770 Palestinians and 33 Israelis have died in the conflict so far.
Averil Power, senator from the Fianna Fáil political party, said that the Ireland’s decision to abstain from voting was “utterly shameful”, while Gerry Adams, President of the Sinn Féin political party accused the Irish government of “political cowardice”.
“In just two weeks, Israel has killed over 650 people in Gaza, including more than 150 children. It is deliberating targeting civilians with a campaign designed to instill terror in the entire Palestinian population. Not only is this immoral, it is also completely illegal under international law. I am shocked and disgusted with the Irish government’s decision not to support an international inquiry into Israel’s actions in Gaza”, she said.
Patricia O’Brien, Ireland’s ambassador to the United Nations, said that the country abstained as a member of the EU, and was a strong voice of disapproval in the council.
Speaking to Ireland’s state broadcaster RTE, O’Brien said that a different method was needed that made “use of the existing mechanisms and available expertise”.
“The ongoing situation is so grave that it requires urgent action”, she said.
She added that there was also a “failure to adequately condemn the indiscriminate firing of rockets by Hamas against the civilian areas of Israel”.
“We want to see a full reflection of our humanitarian concerns”, she said.
