Irish President Urges UN Action on Gaza, Cites ‘Destruction of a People’

By Staff, Agencies

Irish President Michael D. Higgins has called on United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres to invoke Chapter Seven of the UN Charter to bypass Security Council paralysis and take urgent action to address the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.

In a video statement shared by RTÉ News, Higgins described the “Israeli” entity’s assault on the Gaza Strip as “the incredible, incredible destruction of an entire people,” denouncing the international community’s failure to act in the face of mass starvation and suffering.

“Are we to watch children starving, women dehydrated, or trying to feed their children? Something must happen,” Higgins said, urging the UN to create an international corridor to deliver aid, even without Security Council approval.

The Irish president emphasized that the right exists under Chapter Seven to bypass obstruction at the Security Council. “I am personally in favor of the secretary-general using Chapter Seven procedure... whether or not the Security Council agrees, and even if there’s a blockage,” he asserted.

He condemned the continued obstruction of humanitarian aid, pointing to thousands of trucks stranded outside Gaza: “There are 6,000 trucks with enough food for three months, and it has been blocked, and it is outrageous.”

According to UN agencies, over 6,000 Palestinian children are currently suffering from malnutrition as a result of the total blockade imposed by the “Israeli” entity. At least 175 Palestinians, including 93 children, have died from starvation since the war began in October 2023.

The apartheid “Israeli” entity has rejected repeated calls from the UN, humanitarian agencies, and world leaders to increase aid access to Gaza. In recent months, “Israeli” authorities dismantled the UN-backed delivery system and replaced it with a controversial US-supported mechanism, which aid workers and local officials say has only worsened the crisis.

Since the start of the war, the US-“Israeli” campaign of genocide has killed more than 61,000 Palestinians, the majority of whom are women and children. The besieged population now relies almost entirely on UN agencies and humanitarian partners for food and basic survival.