ISRAEL HAS KILLED the equivalent of a classroom of 28 children in Gaza every day since October 2023, according to the executive director of UNICEF, Catherine Russell, in remarks to the UN Security Council in July.

The Gaza Ministry of Health has named 65,000 Palestinians killed by Israel, 83% of whom were civilians according to Israel’s own military.

A famine was declared in Gaza on 22 August as a direct result of Israel’s months-long deliberate blockade of humanitarian assistance. The destruction of Gaza City and the expulsion of its population of one million people is ongoing and the removal of the entire population of Gaza is openly discussed in Israel and the US.

In the West Bank, state-sponsored settler violence, forced displacement of Palestinians, home demolitions, and settlement growth have all increased dramatically, continuing to undermine any prospect of a solution based on two states which is the long-established objective of Ireland and the EU.

Both the Taoiseach and Tánaiste, as well as a number of other EU leaders, have stated that Israel’s actions in Gaza amount to genocide. However, the inaction of the EU in the face of such destruction and death is in stark contrast to the decisive and cohesive actions taken in defence of Ukraine.

The “State of the Union” speech by the President of the EU Commission Ursula Von der Leyen earlier this month, with its proposals for the partial suspension of the trade components of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, comes too late for the dead, starved, wounded and traumatised children of Gaza.

The proposals are, regrettably, still just words. The EU’s failures over Gaza undermine any claim that the Union is a beacon of moral values for the world. Clearly it is not.

Given this abject failure, it now falls to the United Nations General Assembly, which is taking place in New York until the end of next week, to take meaningful action in defence of the people of Palestine.

The Assembly needs to stand up to the US

Before the UNGA even got underway, the United States had refused visas to the Palestinian delegation and labelled as “terrorist” three Palestinian human rights organisations for the “crime” of documenting Israel’s abuses of human rights. The United States clearly continues to collude with Israel’s efforts to destroy Palestine and its people.

The General Assembly has the power to take responsibility for the defence of international law and human rights and to stand decisively with the people of Palestine, particularly as the Security Council has shown itself incapable of fulfilling its most basic function under the Charter of the United Nations.

The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Tom Fletcher, has said: “Death, destruction, starvation and displacement of Palestinian civilians are the result of choices that defy international law and ignore the international community”.

The first priority for the General Assembly must be, therefore, to stand up to the United States and demand that it secures an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the release of all hostages held there, and an unimpeded and massive influx of humanitarian aid through the structures of the UN and competent NGOs.

Then, the General Assembly can reject the credentials of Israel’s representatives and remove it from the work of the body until it ends its illegal occupation of Palestine.

This would not be a first for the Assembly. In 1974 it suspended Apartheid South Africa from the Assembly, a ban which denied South Africa the right to speak, vote or participate in the Assembly’s work and which only ended in 1994 following the end of Apartheid.

A great deal is at stake

Following the July 2024 International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling which declared Israel’s occupation of Palestine to be illegal, the General Assembly adopted a Resolution, co-sponsored by Ireland, which required Israel to end the occupation within one year or face consequences.

Instead, Israel has doubled down on the illegal occupation. It must now face sanction.

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Under Resolution 377, Uniting for Peace, adopted in 1950, the General Assembly has the power to call on all States to implement comprehensive sanctions, including an arms embargo, against Israel.

It can also instruct the Secretary General to solicit contributions for an armed multinational UN protection force for Gaza, at the request of the State of Palestine, to protect civilians, facilitate humanitarian aid and preserve evidence of atrocity crimes.

This is the 80th UN General Assembly and one of the most important in its history. At stake is the authority of the United Nations as the author and defender of human rights and international law.

It is already under attack. Failure to stand in support of Palestine could sound its death-knell with untold negative consequences.

There is a great deal at stake. Hopefully Ireland will stand with others in defence of our international system of justice, peace and human rights and stand firmly against those who would destroy it.

Éamonn Meehan is chair of Sadaka, the Ireland-Palestine Alliance. Formerly, he was CEO of Trocaire.