Tánaiste to raise Occupied Territories Bill in Cabinet
The legislation will be known as the Israeli Settlements Prohibition of Importation of Goods Bill 2025.
This Bill will ban trade with the Occupied Palestinian Territory by making any import from there an offence under the Customs Act.
This will mean that the Bill will be enforced by customs officers.
They will have the power to inspect, search and arrest anyone seeking to import goods from Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
While trade is banned, the legislation going to Government does not cover services.
Although the Tánaiste insists he is willing to consider its inclusion of services in the Bill and has sought the Attorney General's advice on this matter.
Once the Bill has been approved by the Cabinet, it will be sent to the Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade for pre-legislative scrutiny.
But there is no indication right now that the legislation will be enacted before the summer recess on 17 July.
US student visa applications clarity
Separately, Mr Harris has asked officials to engage directly with the US embassy in Dublin and with the US administration more widely in a bid to provide clarity about the increased vetting of social media accounts of student visa applicants.
He also asked officials to speak to third-level institutions and organisations that provide services for students who wish to travel with the United States.
This will be with the clear aim of providing guidance and examining possible supports for young people who wish to travel to the United States in the coming months.
Mr Harris also intends to raise this matter with the new US ambassador when he takes up his role next month.
Dublin city centre revitalisation works
Taoiseach Micheál Martin will today seek approval for a plan to revitalise Dublin City Centre.
The GPO be revamped under the plan which stems from the Dublin City Taskforce's recommendations.
There will be a commitment to transform O'Connell Street and its surroundings along with the regeneration of social housing complexes in the city centre.
Derelict sites will be converted into high-density residential areas where homes for essential workers will be a priority.
The regeneration work will be overseen by a stand-alone entity working under Dublin City Council, and it will be financed by both public and private investment.
There is a pledge too that policing will be more visible, and there will be "better located services" for vulnerable people.
Student Accommodation
Minister for Higher Education James Lawless will bring a memo to Cabinet to put in place a design guide for new State-supported student accommodation
It is seeking to deliver more beds quicker by building twin rooms, communal kitchens, and shared bathrooms.
This will replace the current individual ensuite rooms, and the minister is expected to tell Government that it will encourage a more sociable, integrated student experience.
Public spending across Government
The Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers will remind Cabinet ministers today of their responsibility to ensure value for money is central to how they spend public funds.
He will bring a memo to Government setting out the responsibilities of individual ministers to ensure value for money, as well as the legislation that underpins decision making.
Minister Chambers will remind ministers that value for money is about securing efficiency in the use of public resources to deliver enhanced public services, living standards and infrastructure for the country.
While the Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill will bring the Patient Safety (Licencing) Bill 2025 to Cabinet.
The Bill will give HIQA the power to sanction hospitals if safety standards are not met.
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26 minutes ago
- RTÉ News
More than 100 NGOs warn 'mass starvation' spreading across Gaza
More than 100 aid organisations warned that "mass starvation" was spreading in Gaza ahead of the US top envoy's visit to Europe for talks on a possible ceasefire and an aid corridor. Israel is facing mounting international pressure over the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territory, where more than two million people face severe shortages of food and other essentials after 21 months of conflict, triggered by Hamas's attack on Israel. The UN said that Israeli forces had killed more than 1,000 Palestinians trying to get food aid since the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation started operations in late May effectively sidelining the existing UN-led system. A statement with 111 signatories, including Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Save the Children and Oxfam, warned that "our colleagues and those we serve are wasting away". The groups called for an immediate negotiated ceasefire, the opening of all land crossings and the free flow of aid through UN-led mechanisms. It came a day after the United States said its envoy Steve Witkoff will head to Europe this week for talks on Gaza and may then visit the Middle East. Mr Witkoff comes with "a strong hope that we will come forward with another ceasefire as well as a humanitarian corridor for aid to flow, that both sides have in fact agreed to," State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce told reporters. Even after Israel began easing a more than two-month aid blockade in late May, Gaza's population is still suffering extreme scarcities. Israel says humanitarian aid is being allowed into Gaza and accuses Hamas of exploiting civilian suffering, including by stealing food handouts to sell at inflated prices or shooting at those awaiting aid. 'Hope and heartbreak' In their statement, the humanitarian organisations said that warehouses with tonnes of supplies were sitting untouched just outside the territory, and even inside, as they were blocked from accessing or delivering the goods. "Palestinians are trapped in a cycle of hope and heartbreak, waiting for assistance and ceasefires, only to wake up to worsening conditions," the signatories said. "It is not just physical torment, but psychological. Survival is dangled like a mirage," they added. "The humanitarian system cannot run on false promises. Humanitarians cannot operate on shifting timelines or wait for political commitments that fail to deliver access." UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that the "horror" facing Palestinians in Gaza under Israeli military attack was unprecedented in recent years. The head of Gaza's largest hospital said 21 children had died due to malnutrition and starvation in the Palestinian territory in the past three days. Standstill Israel and Hamas have been engaging in drawn-out negotiations in Doha since 6 July as mediators scramble to end nearly two years of war. But after more than two weeks of back and forth, efforts by mediators Qatar, Egypt and the United States are at a standstill. More than two dozen Western countries recently urged an immediate end to the war, saying suffering in Gaza had "reached new depths". Israel's military campaign in Gaza has killed 59,106 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory. Hamas's 7 October 2023 attack on Israel, which sparked the war, resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
Irish Examiner
3 hours ago
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Irish Examiner view: Where will horror in Gaza all end?
Only the wilfully ignorant would disagree with UN secretary general Antonio Guterres when he describes Gaza as 'a horror show'. UNRWA commissioner general Philippe Lazzarini, meanwhile, says Gaza, still subject to a blockade by Israel, is 'hell on Earth' and that the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation aid sites are 'a sadistic death trap'. Mr Guterres told the UN security council: 'Now we are seeing the last gasp of a humanitarian system built on humanitarian principles. That system is being denied the conditions to function. Denied the space to deliver. Denied the safety to save lives.' Local health officials report that at least 80 children have died of hunger during the war, along with another 20 or so adults. However, they say the pace of death through malnutrition is increasing, with a six-week-old baby among 15 such victims in just the past 48 hours. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has tried to shift the blame to the UN, saying it is refusing to deliver aid that 'could help end the desperation'. Beyond desperation is perhaps a better description. The number of Palestinians killed trying to access food and water is now more than 1,000 — compared with an official death toll of 59,000 overall in the 21-month war — with some families releasing footage from dead loved ones' phones showing their final moments. There are now widespread reports of looting, but given that the population is on the brink of famine and the entire infrastructure has been devastated, that's hardly surprising. The Norwegian Refugee Council says whatever it had available has been given away, and that its own staff are starving. Meanwhile, WHO housing and warehouses came under fire from Israeli forces yesterday, not once but three times, meaning the agency's work is compromised. It comes as one of the least damaged parts of Gaza, a key route for both people and aid, comes under attack. Of course, to say 'least damaged' is a bit tautologous, given that an estimated 90% of buildings in Gaza have been destroyed or damaged and most of its more than 2m people displaced. Such a level of wanton devastation must surely be deliberate policy. The amount is so catastrophically high that any claims of targeting Hamas militia or tunnels or hidden arms caches every time cannot be credible. The country's politicians and military keep saying they are protecting civilians, but such protests ring depressingly hollow given that civilians are the ones dying by the legion. Where does it end? With the complete clearing of the region, which we learned yesterday is so heavily piled with rubble that could take as long as four decades? And if that's the case, where do the people go? We have heard Donald Trump talk about turning Gaza into a sort of Riviera of the Middle East, and of Israeli demands to hold on to 40% of the territory in exchange for a ceasefire — talks on which are reportedly on the verge of collapsing. None of this is either legally or morally defensible. The mass starvation we were warned of some months ago now appears to have arrived, weaponised and exacerbated by military and political actions. We will all have to live with this stain on our humanity. Water shortages The phrase 'dying for a drink' is usually said in jest, but for how much longer? As it is, millions of people across the world are suffering either through polluted water or, increasingly, a complete lack of it. Some of this is down to climate, with soaring temperatures in summer now the norm, and some of it is down to either the weaponising of water access or its destruction due to military actions. And climate is a major factor, with runaway heat leading to evaporation as well as increased demand for increasingly pressured supplies. The lack of water access hinders everything from growing vegetables to planning permission for housing, and whole cities have to grind to a halt, rightly, if it gets too hot to be safe to work. Just this week, Iran's capital, Tehran, urged residents to conserve water as the heat reaches 50C and above. We should expect that sort of restriction to become regular in our part of the world, even if we may never reach those temperatures. Existing infrastructure was not designed to cope with it. Elsewhere, only recently we read of an Israeli strike killing children and adults as they queued for water in Gaza, which has long relied on desalination plants, many of which are now no longer functioning. Meanwhile, in eastern Ukraine, where between 3m and 3.5m people live under Russian occupation, some cities have had to cut water supplies to every two or three days. People aren't even able to flush their toilets, reduced instead using plastic bags for human waste which are later thrown away. This situation has been attributed to everything from damage and supply restrictions due to the ongoing war, chronic mismanagement, heat, and general neglect. Nonetheless, there have been warnings that it will lead to outbreaks of disease, which will only exacerbate things. Those are only three examples, but the truth is water shortages are now a global concern from the US to Asia. As it is, few regions emerge unscathed over the course of a year. Soon, none of them will. Modern mystery What's in a name? Well, if you're the writer Liadan Ní Chuinn, a defensive screen against prying eyes. Ní Chuinn, whose real name has not been made public but who is finding success with her short story collection Every One Still Here, is a refreshing enigma in an industry that demands almost saturation when it comes to self-promotion. Plenty of writers have pen names. Some have a different name for each genre they write in — JK Rowling, itself something of a pseudonym so boys would think the Harry Potter books were written by a man, is also Robert Galbraith while writing crime fiction. But typically, the person behind the pseudonym is still to the fore in some degree. That could be running their own social media with a photo of them included, or it could be attending in person events on book tours, if they're fortunate enough to be able to cover the cost of them. Ní Chuinn, reputedly from Northern Ireland and born in 1998, rebuffs all of that with the full support of her publisher, The Stinging Fly. In a world where most of us spend far more time than is good for us online, there is something to be said for removing oneself from the equation and allowing the art to speak for itself. Read More Irish Examiner view: A vision for sustainable growth
Irish Examiner
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Not all Jews are Zionists — Alan Shatter does not speak for me
As I watched Tuesday's committee hearing on the Occupied Territories Bill before the Oireachtas Foreign Affairs Committee, I was once again dismayed by the representation of Jews in Ireland, and the speeches delivered in our name on Israel's ongoing genocide in Gaza and the illegal occupation of East Jerusalem and the West Bank. As a non-Zionist Jew from Dublin, my Irish identity has always been just as important to me as my faith and ethnicity. The past 21 months have caused increasing tensions between those in my community who stand in solidarity with Palestine and those whose loyalties remain with Israel, no matter how many red lines they cross. The horrors of October 7 will never fade from the collective Israeli memory. The trauma induced by Hamas' massacre and taking of hostages has caused irreparable damage to each and every Israeli and Palestinian. In the wake of October 7, not only have we witnessed a live-streamed genocide in Gaza, but also a shocking acceleration of violence and displacement in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. While I have been vocal in my condemnation of Hamas, it is imperative that we acknowledge that the suffering of Palestinians did not begin in the aftermath of the Hamas attack, but 77 years earlier with the Nakba. As the granddaughter of a Holocaust escapee who fled to Ireland, I am horrified by former justice minister Alan Shatter's comparison of the Occupied Territories Bill with boycotts against Jews in 1930/40s Germany. It is beyond me that anyone would see fit to compare innocent Jews persecuted by the Nazis with Israeli settlers who we have seen systematically annex, violently attack and displace Palestinians across the occupied territories. While Israeli ministers Bezalel Smotrich, Itamar Ben Gvir and Israel Katz have openly called for ethnic cleansing, the illegal expansion of Israel's territories, and the establishment of a 'Humanitarian City' which has been compared by former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert to a 'concentration camp' respectively, Tuesday's representatives of the Ireland Israel Alliance and the Irish Jewish Community instead relied on deflection and accusations of anti-Semitism to oppose the proposed bill. Chairman of the Jewish Council of Representatives Maurice Cohen claimed the Occupied Territories Bill was not about politics but that it is "performative", a "symbol without substance". While I agree that the scope of the Occupied Territories Bill is insufficient if we are to pressure Israel into making any real changes in their policies, passing it may set a new precedent and lead to the adoption of similar bills by other countries. I agree wholeheartedly in the value of diplomacy, however, it has become abundantly clear that Netanyahu and his government are unwilling to participate in meaningful discussion, prioritising the destruction of Gaza over the safe return of the hostages, time and again. Ireland Israel Alliance Barrister Natasha Hausdorff's reluctance to refer to the West Bank by its proper name speaks volumes. As does her reference to the "disputed territories" rather than the "occupied territories". Speaking in biblical terms of Judea and Samaria, Hausdorff attempts to undermine and erase Palestinian legitimacy and any possibility of true self-determination. Basing the status and boundaries of Israel on religious texts written thousands of years ago, highlights a level of ideological fundamentalism that would not be tolerated or indulged if argued in the context of any other political regime. It is essential during any discussion of the West Bank and East Jerusalem that we view the actions of the Israeli government, IDF and settlers within the context of international law. Those opposing the Occupied Territories Bill refused to acknowledge the International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion that Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal, with Hausdorff claiming 'one cannot occupy what is one's own sovereign territory'. This also starkly contradicts numerous UN resolutions which clearly state that Israeli settlements across the occupied territories are a violation of international law. Critics also emphasised the "message" such a bill sent to Jews both in Israel and the diaspora, though there was no acknowledgement of the very dangerous message sent by Israel's continued military and political protection of such settlements and the brutal violence, destruction and displacement imposed by Israeli settlers upon Palestinians in the occupied territories. As she rounded off her initial address at the Oireachtas hearing, Hausdorff quite rightly highlighted the financial and reputational risks which may result from Ireland's continuing support of Palestine. While I personally believe that boycotts, divestment and sanctions are now imperative, I understand the potential economic consequences of such actions given Ireland's position as the second largest purchaser of Israeli goods in the world. Where I differ from the opinions shared, is the question of morality. I cannot abide by any worldview that prioritises profit over human rights, religious and political agendas over facts and respect for international law. Ria Czerniak-LeBov: 'While I personally believe that boycotts, divestment and sanctions are now imperative, I understand the potential economic consequences of such actions given Ireland's position as the second largest purchaser of Israeli goods in the world.' Ireland is very much at risk of gaining a reputation as an empathetic and ethically critical nation, however financially entangled we appear to be in Israeli and US pharma and tech corporations. As an Irish woman, such a reputation is something I would be proud of. No country is above the law and claiming that criticism of Israel or its illegal settlements is anti-Semitic is a blatantly manipulative strategy which aims to silence dissent. For those who feel deeply uncomfortable, isolated or personally wounded by criticism of Israel and Zionism, I would simply urge introspection and perspective. Having watched 21 months of collective punishment, human rights abuses, displacement and what has now been termed genocide by leading scholars in the field, none of us should feel comfortable. That such atrocities are being committed "in our name" should outrage Jews globally.
