Ireland's center-right government has long stood out as one of the EU's most critical of Israel, along with Spain and Luxembourg, among others.
The fact that it has now taken over the presidency of the Council of Ministers is not making the Irish hold back their criticism either.
There have been shocking abuses, especially against children, women and innocent civilians, Prime Minister Micheál Martin said in a meeting with TT and other resident EU correspondents in Cork.
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Foreign Minister Helen McEntee is clear that she wants to see concrete proposals from the European Commission on new sanctions and other measures in time for the next EU foreign ministers' meeting in Luxembourg in a week.
"Our credibility is at stake. Ireland has long urged the EU to take stronger action against what is a humanitarian disaster in Gaza, which is man-made and preventable," McEntee told EU correspondents in Dublin.
Ireland is one of the few EU countries that has independently imposed sanctions against the Israeli far-right ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich.
However, for the entire EU to do so, total unity is required - which is currently highly unlikely, given the significantly more pro-Israel governments in, for example, the Czech Republic and Slovenia.
“Continuing to deteriorate”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen nevertheless promises that new proposals are on the way, at least in connection with Israel's expanded settlements in the West Bank, which she calls "extremely unacceptable."
"It undermines the future of the two-state solution, which we believe is the only sustainable path to lasting peace. The situation is clearly deteriorating," von der Leyen said after a meeting with Micheál Martin.
Facts: EU sanctions against Israel
Last autumn, the European Commission proposed new measures against Israel due to the situation in Gaza and the West Bank.
Among other things, it involves temporarily freezing parts of the trade rules in its cooperation agreement with Israel - which is estimated to entail an additional cost of 227 million euros per year (just under 2.5 billion SEK).
They also want to impose sanctions on Israel's Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, the most extreme members of the country's government.
Sweden and France have also recently pushed for tougher trade measures against products from Israeli settlements, which has not yet been formally proposed by the EU Commission.
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