Ireland summoned Israel’s ambassador to Dublin Zeev Boker on Tuesday to protest after Israeli forces killed 59 Palestinians during clashes along the Gaza border over the US embassy opening in Jerusalem.
Foreign Minister Simon Coveney “summoned the Israeli ambassador to Ireland… to express Ireland’s shock and dismay at the level of death and injury yesterday on the Gaza Strip,” the ministry said in a statement.
Coveney also asked for “restraint from Israel in the hours and days ahead,” the foreign ministry said.
“The ambassador has been informed of Irish demands for an independent international investigation into yesterday’s deaths led by the UN,” it added.
The ministry said Irish officials in Ramallah reported that health services in Gaza, already stretched because of a lack of equipment and essential medicines, were “overwhelmed with the level of casualties”.
“As well as the death and mass injury, Ireland is also very disturbed by the injuries suffered by health workers as reported by the WHO (World Health Organization),” the statement said.
It said there were 211 recorded attacks against health workers in Gaza and 25 ambulances had been damaged.
AFP
