Irish Foreign Minister Micheál Martin has condemned an Israeli airstrike on a Palestinian displacement camp, describing it as “barbaric”.
Speaking in Brussels on Monday, Martin, who is Ireland’s deputy prime minister, called for an immediate ceasefire and the release of all hostages.
At least 45 people died in the strike in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
Earlier, Hamas had fired eight rockets from Rafah toward Tel Aviv – the first long-range attacks on Israel’s central city since January.
Martin said there can be no military solution to the conflict and criticized any group that uses violence or terrorism to eliminate the State of Israel or Palestine.
“I condemn yesterday’s violence. The rockets that were fired at Tel Aviv and the heinous attack on the Rafah refugee camp where children and innocent civilians were killed,” he said.
Martin added: “What we witnessed last night is barbaric. Gaza is a very small enclave, a densely populated conurbation.
“You cannot bomb an area like this without shocking consequences for children and innocent civilians.”
Israeli military operations continued in Rafah despite a ruling on Friday from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordering it to stop.
Martin was speaking after a meeting of EU foreign ministers, at which he said the prospect of sanctions against Israel if it did not comply with ICJ rulings had been discussed.
Meanwhile, Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) Simon Harris said sanctions on Israel should not be “out of the question”.
He called the airstrike on Rafah “absolutely unimaginable and unconscionable.”
“During the night we saw Israel attack a displacement center, a place where parents were told to flee with their children, and they bombed it,” he said.
“Regarding sanctions, I don’t think anything can be off the table when it comes to Israel, particularly with what we’re seeing happening currently in Rafah, when we’re seeing the international community being ignored, when we’re seeing international courts being ignored. ,” he told Ireland AM.
Earlier this month, Ireland was one of three European countries to announce plans to officially recognize a Palestinian state.
Ireland, Norway and Spain will formally recognize the creation of a Palestinian state on Tuesday.
“We did the recognition not to be pro-Palestinian or pro-Israeli, but to be pro-peace,” Harris said.
