UK FonSec, Irish PM blast Katz over Gaza 'total devastation' call
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Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy condemned Israeli Security Minister Israel Katz's threat of "total devastation" in Gaza, urging him to withdraw the statement.
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The bodies of the victims of an Israeli army airstrike are prepared for burial at Indonesia Hospital in Beit Lahia in northern Gaza, on March 20, 2025. (AP)
Britain's top diplomat blasted Israeli Security Minister Israel Katz for threatening "total devastation" in Gaza.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy was asked in the House of Commons to comment on Katz's tweet on X Wednesday, which came amid renewed Israeli bombardment of Gaza.
"What follows will be far more severe — you will pay the full price," Katz had said. "Return the hostages and remove Hamas — the alternative is total devastation."
Lammy claimed he does "condemn those words," asking Katz, who he called "very experienced", to withdraw them.
Lammy, who was chastised by Downing Street earlier this week for accusing "Israel" of violating international law by barring the entry of aid to the strip, acknowledged that a British person was among those injured when a UN complex in Gaza was bombed on Wednesday. He issued a request for a "transparent investigation and for those responsible to be held to account."
Lammy had told the House of Commons on Monday that "Israel" had breached international law, but on Tuesday, a spokesperson for Prime Minister Keir Starmer clarified that the country was only “at risk” of doing so. This clarification follows a series of Israeli airstrikes on Gaza that killed over 500 Palestinians.
The spokesperson emphasized that while the Israeli actions in Gaza were "at clear risk" of breaching international humanitarian law, it remained the responsibility of the courts to make such determinations. “The government is not an international court,” the spokesperson noted.
The Council for Arab-British Understanding (CAABU) criticized the reversal, calling it a “disgraceful move” that undermines the government’s commitment to international law. It also highlighted a growing divide between Lammy and Starmer.
Micheal Martin says Israeli strikes 'collective punishment'
On his part, Taoiseach Micheal Martin sharply denounced the latest Israeli assault on Gaza, characterizing them as "collective punishment" for Palestinians.
He expressed the "deploring and shocking" explosions killed "so many innocent people."
The Fianna Fáil leader is in Brussels to attend an EU meeting with his European counterparts and when asked about the recent strikes targeting civilians, he expressed that the statements made by Israeli officials, "particularly" Katz, "seemed to me to amount to collective punishment of the Palestinians within Gaza," calling it "quite shocking".
He explained that this "needs to stop" and urged Europe to demand the end of the killing and slaughter, while also citing the need for the release of Israeli captives and moving toward the second phase of the ceasefire, which Hamas has been demanding.
Martin emphasized the need to exert pressure from the European Union, the US, and other nations, expressing that “there was no warning. Many, many people come back after the ceasefire to their homes in the expectation that they were going to experience some degree of peace and harmony, and that has been shattered by what appears to be very indiscriminate bombing of Palestinian homes and families.”
Martin stated that while the cabinet has decided to move forward with the Occupied Territories Bill, it would have no "immediate impact" on the Israeli government's policies.
The Bill, which was initially proposed in the Dáil in 2018, would prohibit the exchange of goods and services with any unlawfully occupied territory, including illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian property.
The government committed to implementing the Bill after the UN's highest court issued an advisory opinion last July stating that nations should take action to restrict commerce or investments that support unlawful Israeli settlements.
When asked if the recent assaults on Gaza had increased pressure on the government to push up its alternative Bill, Martin responded by saying he did not believe it would impact the immediate decisions of "Israel" in Gaza, adding, “But I think the Minister of Foreign Affairs is progressing it. A lot of the amendments have been worked on by the officials in the Department of Foreign Affairs."
