Ireland will again call for the EU to punish Israel for breaches of international law at a meeting in Brussels today.
EU trade ministers are expected to discuss the latest developments including Gaza and the West Bank.
The Irish government was outraged by the treatment of it and other European citizens from a flotilla trying to reach Gaza.
Tánaiste Simon Harris TD called it “despicable and cannot be consequence free.”
Arriving in Brussels this morning, Ireland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Helen McEntee TD, said that she would be raising the issue with her fellow trade ministers.
“We saw this week the actions of the Israeli government and in particular an Israeli minister against Irish but also European and international citizens who had been illegally detained in international waters.
This is just one of a number of actions that we’ve seen in recent months and indeed years and I believe that Europe now needs to act and needs to respond and so today with other colleagues, I will be calling for the Commission to put forward proposals that would ban the importation of trade from the illegal settlements and I think it is time that we take action at a European level and it’s time that we respond to these constant responses and breaches of international law.”
It is unlikely that Ireland’s demands will be met.
EU ministers would have to unanimously agree to suspend trade measures and some member states, particularly the Czech Republic, completely object to hitting back at Israel.