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LAST UPDATE | 5 Feb
THERE HAVE BEEN fresh calls for the Taoiseach to boycott the St Patrick’s Day White House visit following the declaration by US President Donald Trump that he intends to “take over” the Gaza Strip in Palestine.
The Social Democrats TD Sinead Gibney said that if Trump continues with his plan, then the party would not support the Taoiseach travelling to the US for St Patrick’s Day this year.
The opposition have reacted strongly to the Trump’s announcement, with People Before Profit’s Ruth Coppinger calling Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “two psychopaths sitting in front of an open fire in the White House”.
TD Richard Boyd Barrett called on the Irish government to take decisive action, firstly by ending the use of Shannon Airport by the US.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Tánaiste Simon Harris have both responded to the declaration by US President Donald Trump that he intends to “take over” the Gaza Strip in Palestine.
Martin said neighbouring countries would not be able to take in refugees from Gaza while Harris said the displacement of Palestinian people would violate UN Security Council resolutions. Both expressed concern about the state of the fragile ceasefire in place between Israel and Hamas.
At a joint press conference in Washington with Netanyahu, Trump announced plans to remove people from the Palestinian territory that has been devastated by Israel’s siege, bombardment and invasion since the Hamas-led attack in October 2023.
Trump said the US “will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it too”, detailing ambitions to ethnically cleanse the area he described as “hell”.
“We’ll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site, level the site, and get rid of the destroyed buildings, level it out, create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs.”
He also said that Palestinians would not want to return to their homes in Gaza.
The Taoiseach said on the way into a Cabinet meeting this morning that neighbouring Jordan and Egypt were not in a position to take more Palestinian refugees in.
Most of the population of the Gaza Strip are already refugees from 1948, when Israel was founded.
“It’s not the first time that I’ve heard that idea, and I think I would agree that Gaza is hell on Earth right now, and has been hell on Earth for the last number of years,” he said.
“That’s the reason, then, why we need to double down on the ceasefire and make sure that the ceasefire is built upon and that the second phase is confirmed.”
Martin said the Trump played “a significant role” in securing the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
But he also said there is “enormous concern” in Jordan and Egypt at the idea of taking in more Palestinian refugees, because they are already under “huge pressure”.
He said the next phase of the ceasefire deal must be implemented in order to create “a durable peace so that people can get back to their homes and start rebuilding them, because we’re talking about close to two million people in a very small piece of land”.
“They need help, assistance and respite and the wherewithal to get on with life right now.”
Harris, who is also Minister for Foreign Affairs, reaffirmed Ireland’s stated commitment to a two-state solution and described Trump’s comments as “concerning”.
“We need a two-state solution, and the people of Palestine and the people of Israel both have a right to live safely side by side, and that’s where the focus has to be,” said Harris.
“Any idea of displacing the people of Gaza anywhere else would be in clear contradiction with UN Security Council resolutions.”
Harris said is approach to US leaders has always been to “judge them based on what they do and not what they say”.
He said it was important that the United States “clarify the comments of the president”.
“It’s really important that that ceasefire holds, but then the next phase has to be a political process that brings about a two-state solution, and that’s where Ireland’s focus is going to be.
“That’s where I know the focus of the European Union is going to be, and I hope it’s the focus of where the US will be too.
“It’s not a radical thing to say, or a new thing to say. It has been the long-held view of the international community that a two-state solution must be the landing zone here.
“The comments last night were, of course, very concerning, but the focus has to be on keeping the ceasefire in place, a fragile ceasefire that has seen aid finally flowing to the people of Gaza, the bombing stopping and hostages released.”
“The world needs to wake up to the threat of Trump.”
— Jane Matthews (@janeematthews) February 5, 2025
“He is threatening to commit what is a war crime and a crime against humanity, the crime of ethnic cleansing against the people of Gaza.” - PBP TD Richard Boyd Barrett @thejournal_ie pic.twitter.com/ERU6j4zGN3
Trump is threatening to commit what is a war crime and a crime against humanity, said Boyd Barrett.
“We think our government and governments across the world are duty bound to condemn this open threat to commit a war crime. They should call it ethnic cleansing, because that is what he is threatening. There should be no equivocation or conciliation with this madness.
“What he is threatening is to invade Gaza effectively, and to expel its entire population. And he’s made this threat while sitting beside Benjamin Netanyahu, who has an arrest warrant out for him by the International Criminal Court for war crimes.
“So the world needs to stand very clearly against this dangerous madness that is now being promoted by Donald Trump,” he said.
Trump’s declaration follows comments he made recently calling for Gaza to be “cleaned out”.
It also aligns with the most extreme, far-right members of the Israeli government, who have called for the establishment of Israeli settlements in Gaza, like the illegal settlements Israel already maintains in the West Bank.
Labour’s Duncan Smith also condemned Trump’s “outrageous” call to forcibly relocate the 2.1 million Palestinians in Gaza and called for immediate action to pass the Occupied Territories Bill.
Smith said for the United States, “a supposed beacon of freedom and justice, its continued indifference to the plight of the Palestinian people is not just a diplomatic failure; it is a moral stain that history will not easily wash away”.
He said Trump’s comments are the latest in a long line of “disgraceful and dangerous rhetoric, which only serve to embolden the Israeli Government’s egregious actions”.
With reporting from Christina Finn and Press Association
Need more information on what is happening in Israel and Palestine? Check out our FactCheck Knowledge Bank for essential reads and guides to navigating the news online.
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