Ireland became the first country of the European Union, which accused Israel in the annexation of the territories of Palestine. About it reports The Jerusalem Post.
The Irish Parliament unanimously approved a resolution that condemns the “actual annexation” of the West Bank of the Jordan River and declares that the Israeli authorities have repeatedly violated the norms of international law. Deputies discussed the expulsion of the Ambassador of Israel, but voted against.
Country Foreign Minister Simon Coveni noted that the adoption of a resolution demonstrates the concerns of the Irish authorities in relation to the activities of Israeli military. “The scale, speed and strategic nature of the actions of Israel to expand settlements and the intentions behind this have led us to what we must be honest in relation to what is happening,” he stressed.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry responded that “the outrageous and unreasonable position of Ireland is completely rejected against Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria.” The department concluded that the Irish side supports the victory of the extremist Palestinian groupings, the Jerusalem Post reports. In Jerusalem, they also said that Ireland seeks to take the position of “the most anti-Israeli Western country”.
The aggravation of the conflict between Palestine and Israel began with clashes in East Jerusalem. On May 10, Palestinian groupings of Hamas and Islamic jihad, based in the Gaza Strip, began a massive shelling of Israel – more than three thousand missiles were released in the country. In response, the Israeli army called on five thousand reservists and caused air strikes for targets in the Gaza Strip.
As a result of the escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, 12 Israelis were killed and at least 230 residents of the Gaza Strip. On May 20, the parties adopted the proposals of Egypt on the bilateral cessation of fire. Armistice agreement entered into force on May 21 at 02:00.