The Government will amend the Occupied Territories Bill to ban the trade of goods, but not services, with Israeli firms operating in occupied Palestinian territories, Tánaiste Simon Harris has said.
Mr Harris, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, told the Dáil the programme for government sets out a commitment to progress legislation “prohibiting goods from the Occupied Palestinian territories”.
He also said a meeting in relation to the EU-Israel Association Agreement will take place this month in Brussels and he expects to attend.
Ireland and Spain last year asked European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen to review whether Israel was in breach of the agreement, which is conditional on respect for human rights, given the civilian death toll in Gaza.
Regarding the Occupied Territories Bill, Sinn Féin TD Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire said “technical issues” were being used “as a ruse or distraction from the fact that the policy of the Government has changed to now ban only goods” from the settlements.
Mr Harris said the Government’s “focus is on progressing legislation on prohibiting goods”.
“It’s kind of crystal clear. You might not like the answer but it is clear,” he said. “I have answered your question directly. You asked about goods or services. I’ve said goods.”
Labour TD Eoghan Kenny said he shared the concern about the Government’s amendments to the Bill. He said it was an issue coming up constantly among his friends.
But Mr Harris said “radical” amendment would be needed to ensure the Bill’s constitutionality and “to try to reduce the risk of EU infringement proceedings”.
Mr Harris said he would deal with Senator Frances Black, as the sponsor of the Bill, and would then “revert to the House”.
The Tánaiste said the Government had received legal advice regarding the legislation which suggested something could possibly be done.
But, he added, “we shouldn’t fool ourselves in terms of the breadth of that ability. This is a very narrow path in terms of making sure that any law that this Oireachtas passes should be lawful.”
More broadly, Mr Harris noted the “huge fragility” of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. He said “all hostages must be returned to their families” and that humanitarian should be allowed to flow into Gaza.
“A resumption of the conflict in Gaza would be disastrous and everything should be done to avert this.”
The Tánaiste said he was “alarmed” by some of the language he had heard in recent days regarding the situation. His comments came as US president Donald Trump restated his plan for the US to take over Gaza during a meeting with King Abdullah of Jordan.
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