‘It will shame the world’ – Micheál Martin issues stark Gaza warning in UN address
Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, the Taoiseach said the international community had ‘failed Palestine’
Micheál Martin has said the full extent of the horrors in Gaza will “shame the world” as he delivered Ireland’s national address to the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Speaking on Thursday night, Mr Martin said the international community had “failed Palestine” and warned that the reality of what has happened in Gaza would eventually be fully exposed.
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“When the full truth of what has happened, what is still happening, in Gaza is finally known, when the evidence is gathered, when the testimonies are heard, when the true horrors are finally and fully revealed, it will shame the world,” he told delegates.
His comments were met with applause in the General Assembly hall.
The Taoiseach also strongly criticised developments in the occupied West Bank, accusing violent settlers of acting with “near-total impunity”.
He said Palestinian communities were facing a “sustained campaign of displacement and destruction, amounting to ethnic cleansing”.
“This is not some mad conspiracy theory, it is the stated intent of the prime minister of Israel, who said clearly that ‘we’re going to fulfil our promise that there will be no Palestinian state,” he added.
Mr Martin also warned that continued settlement expansion was threatening the possibility of a two-state solution.
He said the only viable way of ending decades of conflict and loss of life was for an independent State of Palestine and State of Israel to live side-by-side “in peace, security and dignity”.
The Taoiseach's remarks came as the conflict in the Middle East remained one of the dominant issues at this year's UN General Assembly.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also addressed the assembly on Thursday, rejecting accusations of genocide against Israel and defending the actions of the Israeli military.
Many officials walked out of the General Assembly meeting in protest of Mr Netanyahu’s speech, to which he called them “moral cowards”.
Throughout his address, the Taoiseach also discussed a number of other major international conflicts and challenges, including Russia's war in Ukraine, the ongoing conflict in Sudan, women's rights in Afghanistan and concerns for LGBTQI+ people around the world.