Irish President Michael Higgins. (Shutterstock)
Ireland’s president is pressing the UN to send armed peacekeepers to Gaza to secure humanitarian aid deliveries.
By World Israel News Staff
Irish President Michael D. Higgins, who has repeatedly condemned Israel over its war against Hamas, is now calling on the United Nations to commit to a military intervention in the Gaza Strip.
In an interview with Irish broadcaster RTÉ, Higgins urged UN Secretary-General António Guterres to bypass standard procedures and authorize the emergency deployment of armed peacekeepers to the embattled enclave.
“I am personally in favor of the secretary-general of the UN using Chapter Seven procedure, by which, whether or not the Security Council agrees, and even if there’s a blockage, the right exists for the secretary-general to seek to put together an international defense of a corridor,” Higgins said.
He further suggested that if a majority of the UN General Assembly supported the initiative, the secretary-general could call for a force to be created, even if the Security Council vetoed the move.
“A force [could] be put together to guarantee humanitarian access,” Higgins said.
The Irish president also accused Israel of blocking “6,000 trucks with enough food for three months,” calling the situation “outrageous.”
However, that claim is contradicted by UN reports indicating that roughly 90 percent of aid trucks entering Gaza are hijacked by armed terror groups. These seizures have made it nearly impossible for much of the aid to reach civilians in need.
Higgins insisted that “practical action” was urgently required, stressing that the deployment of UN troops “cannot wait until September,” when the General Assembly is scheduled to meet in New York.
In a separate letter to EU leaders last week, Higgins urged them to act swiftly to protect Gazan civilians.
“Now the time for action,” he wrote, warning that “those with the duty to act are failing.”
Higgins made no mention of Hamas’ longstanding practice of seizing humanitarian aid, stockpiling it in warehouses, and reselling it to civilians at exorbitant prices.
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