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What is Ireland’s Occupied Territories Bill and could it be revived?

Published

1 month ago

October 18, 2024

What is Ireland’s Occupied Territories Bill and could it be revived?

Dublin says a renewed tensions in the Middle East provide legal grounds to re-examine the bill, which has stalled for six years over concerns it breaches EU law.

Irish Taoiseach Simon Harris has said his government will receive “formal advice” next week from attorney general Rossa Fanning that could revive a bill outlawing trade with Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

The Occupied Territories Bill was first tabled in 2018 by senator Frances Black, before the war in Gaza and Lebanon broke out.

It aims to make it an offence in Ireland to import, attempt to import or assist another person in importing goods made in Israeli settlements, which are considered illegal under international law by the UN and most states.

Despite receiving broad cross-party support, the bill’s progression has stalled over concerns it breached EU trade law — with Ireland fearing being penalised by Brussels.

But according to Dublin, a July advisory opinion by the Hague-based International Court of Justice (ICJ) provides legal grounds to revive the bill.

The Court’s opinion, which has no binding force, states that states are obliged “not to render aid or assistance” that could maintain Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories.

“The ICJ advisory opinion is a game changer in terms of the context, because it now places an obligation on countries to do all they can to help end the unlawful illegal occupation,” the Taoiseach told reporters in Brussels on Wednesday.

“I’d like to do that at an EU level, but regardless of the EU position, I’m not going to ignore the obligation that I believe now exists on Ireland to act,” he added.

Could the bill be revived and passed?

Both the lower house of the legislature, the Dáil, and the senate, the Seanad, have approved the bill, but not the government.

The current government coalition is formed of Fianna Fáil (Renew Europe) and the Greens, both of whom supported the bill back in 2018, and Fine Gael (EPP), which previously voted down the bill.

But Harris, the Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader, has strongly hinted he is hoping to inject fresh impetus into the bill.

“We want to see if it is now possible to move ahead in terms of trade restrictions, in terms of the occupied Palestinian territories,” he said on Wednesday.

Harris has also expressed a clear will to unilaterally suspend trade with Israel without Brussels’ support.

“Ireland (…) will not wait for everybody in Europe to move on the issue,” he said.

Could other EU countries follow suit?

The EU-Israel trade deal, also known as the Association Agreement, does not apply to products originating from the occupied territories.

It means Israeli goods made in the West Bank and East Jerusalem are exempt from preferential tariffs. Goods originating from settlements must also be clearly labelled in customs declarations.

Euronews asked the European Commission to provide further details on the value of products originating from settlements reaching the EU market. It said in a statement: “Trade with settlements is not included in EU trade figures with Israel.”

“The EU does not recognise Israel’s illegal settlements as part of Israel’s territory. Therefore, EU importers should not declare Israel as country of origin if goods are imported from the settlements,” the statements adds.

Ireland and Spain have spearheaded calls for Brussels to use its economic leverage to exert diplomatic pressure on Israel, by reviewing the Association Agreement and further restricting trade with Israel.

The Association Agreement includes a clause that makes EU-Israel relations “based on the respect for human rights and democratic principles,” meaning it could be suspended if EU countries agreed unanimously that Israel’s operations in Gaza and Lebanon violated fundamental rights.

The European Union is Israel’s main trading partner, accounting for 28.8% of its trade in goods in 2022.

EU leaders agreed to hold a special council to discuss that deal in May. While Israel has agreed in principle to attend that council, it has dismissed top diplomat Josep Borrell’s suggestion the meeting should be convened specifically to address Israel’s compliance with human rights in Gaza.

“I am afraid the Association Council will not take place before the next foreign affairs council,” Borrell said this week, in a sign the talks between both sides on the arrangements of the council are still in deadlock. The next foreign affairs council is scheduled to take place in mid-November.

Belgium’s caretaker prime minister Alexander de Croo has called for an EU ban on Israeli products originating from the occupied Palestinian territories, and the ban has already been enacted by the Brussels City Council.

Norway, not a EU member state, has advised its businesses against trading with Israeli settlements in response to the war in Gaza.

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World

Trump Plans to Attend UFC Fight at Madison Square Garden, Sources Say

Published

2 hours ago

November 17, 2024

Press Room

Trump Plans to Attend UFC Fight at Madison Square Garden, Sources Say

By Steve Holland WEST PALM BEACH, Florida (Reuters) – President-elect Donald Trump was set to travel to New York City on Saturday for what sources said were plans to attend an Ultimate Fighting Championship event at Madison Square Garden. It will be the second time Trump has left the Palm Beach,

World

Zelenskyy: Russia using Iranian weapons in 'massive' attack targeting energy infrastructure

Published

3 hours ago

November 17, 2024

Press Room

Zelenskyy: Russia using Iranian weapons in 'massive' attack targeting energy infrastructure

Russian forces launched hundreds of drones and missiles targeting Ukraine’s energy and power plant infrastructure on Sunday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the attack included at least 120 missiles and 90 drones, including Iranian-made Shahed drones. Ukrainian officials say it was the largest long-range attack from Russia in at least three months.

“The enemy’s target was our energy infrastructure throughout Ukraine. Unfortunately, there is damage to objects from hits and falling debris. In Mykolaiv, as a result of a drone attack, two people were killed and six others were injured, including two children,” Zelenskyy said.

Zelenskyy added that Ukrianian forces were able to shoot down 144 of the projectiles before they reached their targets.

TRUMP TEAM REACTS TO REPORT PRESIDENT-ELECT TOLD RUSSIA’S PUTIN NOT TO ESCALATE WAR WITH UKRAINE

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Russian forces launched over 200 drones and missiles into Ukrainian territory this weekend. (Christoph Soeder, Pool Photo via AP)

Explosions were reported in the Ukrianian cities of Kyiv, Odesa, Zaporizhzhia, Kryvyi Rih, Dnipro and in western Ukraine. Odesa, a port city, was reportedly left without power.

Poland’s military reacted to the attack by scrambling its own airforce within its borders, though there were no reports of Russian ordnance falling on Polish soil.

DOCUMENTS REVEAL RUSSIA’S INITIAL ‘PEACE DEAL’ EQUATED TO THE SURRENDER OF UKRAINE: REPORT

Russia has repeatedly targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure as temperatures get colder in Ukraine, a strategy Mosocw has employed in previous years of the conflict.

A training session involving Ukrainian conscripts and veterans

A training session involving some 2,000 Ukrainian conscripts and veterans takes place in the muddy fields of the Champagne military camp in eastern France, November 14, 2024. (REUTERS/John Irish)

The attack comes as President-elect Donald Trump is expected to soon appoint a Ukrainian peace envoy to lead negotiations on ending the war with Russia.

TRUMP’S FIRST CABINET PICKS DECIDEDLY NOT ISOLATIONISTS: UKRAINE, ISRAEL BREATHE A SIGH OF RELIEF

The job is not expected to be a salaried role – from 2017 to 2019, Kurt Volker had served as special representative to Ukrainian negotiations on a volunteer basis.

Trump has been rolling out appointee names of those he wants to fill his Cabinet and advise him on top issues at a lightning-quick pace.

President-elect Donald Trump is preparing to appoint a peace envoy to Ukraine and Russia. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)

Trump has long insisted he could negotiate an end to the war with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Few details have been given about how he would do this.

Some advisers are reportedly encouraging Trump to push Kyiv to agree to terms that would freeze the frontlines by creating an 800-mile-long demilitarized zone and allow Russia to keep the land it has illegally seized, which amounts to roughly 20% of Ukraine.

It has also been suggested that Kyiv should agree not to pursue NATO membership for 20 years, a stipulation that critics of this plan argue kowtows to Putin.

Fox News’ Morgan Phillips and the Associated Press contributed to this report

Anders Hagstrom is a reporter with Fox News Digital covering national politics and major breaking news events. Send tips to Anders.Hagstrom@Fox.com, or on Twitter: @Hagstrom_Anders.

World

Italy sends 15 tonnes of humanitarian aid to Gaza

Published

4 hours ago

November 17, 2024

Press Room

Italy sends 15 tonnes of humanitarian aid to Gaza

The aid, which was collected from donors by the charity Confederazione Nazionale delle Misericordie d’Italia, took off aboard a C-130J military aircraft from an airfield in the central city of Pisa.

An Italian charity has sent 15 tonnes of humanitarian aid to Gaza for distribution among the civilian population.

“We will continue to do everything possible to alleviate the suffering of the population of Gaza. Italy does not forget those who suffer,” Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said in a post on X.

The plane will first fly to the airport in Larnaca on Cyprus and the aid will be transferred from there to Gaza by sea.

The aid will be shipped to the Strip via the Cyprus Maritime Corridor, an initiative of the Cypriot government in coordination with the United Nations and international partners such as the European Union.

The aid is expected to arrive at the Israeli port of Ashdod. Israel has long been criticised for impeding the flow of aid into Gaza, something it has always denied.

On Thursday, the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that, “in the last two days alone six attempts to deliver lifesaving assistance to besieged areas in North Gaza governorate were blocked.”

The office said that 79% of Gaza’s population is under active evacuation orders, complicating aid deliveries, and accused Israel of using starvation as a weapon of war.

Israel denies obstructing aid

COGAT, the Israeli agency that tracks and records all aid transferred into Gaza, maintains aid is flowing into the Strip, primarily via the Kerem Shalom, Erez and Kissufim crossings. Kissufim was opened for aid deliveries on Tuesday.

According to data published on the COGAT website, more than 1.1 million tonnes of aid has passed into Gaza since the start of the war in October last year. Israel accuses Hamas of impeding aid deliveries or of stealing aid to sell on.

“In a moment of such profound suffering for the population of Gaza, we felt the moral duty to make a concrete contribution to the local community,” said Misericordie president, Domenico Giani.

“The humanitarian crisis in Gaza requires constant and coordinated commitment from the international community. It is necessary to act not only to address immediate needs, such as the distribution of food aid, but also to address the root causes of the conflict and promote a lasting solution that guarantees human rights and the safety of all citizens.”

Earlier this year, the Italian government launched its Food for Gaza initiative with an initial €12 million donation.

That initiative, led by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs together with key humanitarian actors such as the World Food Programme and Red Cross, aims to strengthen collaboration and facilitate access to food assistance in order to alleviate the suffering of the population and improve food security in the Gaza Strip.

Cities across Italy have seen months of protests, demanding a ceasefire in Gaza and criticising the Italian government for continuing to export arms to Israel.

Italy, considered the third biggest foreign supplier of arms to Israel after the US and Germany, assured in the wake of the 7 October attacks that it would cease to supply arms to Israel.

But in March this year, the Italian Defence Ministry acknowledged orders signed before 7 October had been delivered during the war, despite Italian law banning the export of lethal weapons to countries at war.

“After the start of operations in Gaza, the government immediately suspended all new export licences and all agreements signed after 7 October were not implemented,” Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni told the Senate on Tuesday.

“I want to recall that the Italian policy of completely blocking of all new licences is much more restrictive than that applied by our partners – France, Germany and United Kingdom. These partners continue to use case-by-case assessments, including for new licences. We have blocked everything.”