World
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.
ADVERTISEMENTIt 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.
ADVERTISEMENTThe 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.
ADVERTISEMENTBelgium’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.
Iranians mourning the country’s supreme leader condemned U.S. strikes that Washington called retaliation for Iran’s attacks on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz. At a tightly controlled state funeral in Mashhad — one of Iran’s most conservative cities, where opponents of the government were unlikely to be found in the crowd — mourners voiced defiance and called for revenge.
World
Beloved musicians among victims in deadly Bahamas plane crash; aviation authority grounds flights
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A devastating double-aviation crisis in the Bahamas, including a deadly North Andros plane crash and a separate aircraft fire on Friday, prompted the government to suspend flight operations for a local airline and launch a federal safety probe.
Shortly after 1 p.m. local time Friday, a Cessna 402 aircraft with Bahamian registration departed Lynden Pindling International Airport in Nassau bound for San Andros Airport.
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Authority (AAIA) said the plane “encountered difficulties” and crashed into bushes prior to landing.
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Authorities said 10 people were killed in a Bahamas plane crash on Friday. (Our News Bahamas via AP)
First responders, including the Royal Bahamas Police Force, Airport Authority and emergency medical personnel, rushed to the dense brush where the aircraft went down.
The Bahamas Musicians and Entertainers Union confirmed in a statement Saturday that 10 people died in the crash, including prominent members of the “The Pond Band” and a local DJ, whose artistry the union said “touched so many lives and helped to enrich the cultural fabric of The Bahamas.”
Bahamian Prime Minister Philip Brave Davis said a sole survivor was pulled from the wreckage.
“Ann and I are praying for the families who are now facing unbearable grief,” Davis wrote in a statement on X. “We are also praying for the survivor, whose recovery and care will remain in our thoughts.”
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The identities of those killed in the crash have not yet been released.
While the AAIA’s preliminary reports initially indicated seven people were on board, officials are still establishing the facts of the flight manifest.
Just hours before the fatal crash in North Andros, a Flamingo Air flight en route to Mayaguana was forced to turn back to Nassau after the pilot reported a concern, according to the Ministry of Energy, Utilities and Aviation (MoET).
After the aircraft landed and passengers safely deplaned, the plane caught fire on the runway.
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FILE – The Civil Aviation Authority Bahamas temporarily suspended Flamingo Air’s Air Operator Certificate following two aircraft incidents Friday. (iStock)
Following the two back-to-back safety incidents, the Civil Aviation Authority Bahamas (CAAB) temporarily suspended Flamingo Air’s Air Operator Certificate, according to MoET officials.
“The suspension is a precautionary safety measure and should not be treated as an adverse compliance action against Flamingo Air,” the agency wrote in a statement.
FILE – The plane crashed in North Andros on Friday after taking off from Lynden Pindling International Airport. (Melissa Alcena/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Investigators from the AAIA and inspectors from the CAAB remain at the scene in North Andros as they work to determine what caused the Cessna 402 tragedy.
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Flamingo Air did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Published on •Updated
Moldova’s pro-European President Maia Sandu nominated businessman Vasile Tofan on Saturday as the country’s next prime minister to replace Alexandru Munteanu, who resigned earlier this month over differences with the ruling majority.
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In a video posted to social media, Sandu said Tofan’s primary responsibility, after his candidacy is approved by the country’s parliament, would be to move the country further towards its path of “integration” into the European Union.
He should also “strengthen the resilience of state institutions and society”, and “revive the economy”, added Sandu.
The Moldovan businessman now has two weeks to secure parliamentary backing, a prospect he hopes to achieve after submitting his government programme and his ministerial cabinet nominations.
Tofan had been mentioned as a possible prime minister last year even before the appointment of Munteanu.
Igor Grosu, who heads Sandu’s Action and Solidarity Party (PAS) which won the last parliamentary elections in September, announced on Friday that he had selected him as his candidate to replace the outgoing premier.
He said Tofan shared “the same objectives” as him and PAS, specifying that “EU accession in the years to come, institutional reform and economic growth”, were among the biggest points of agreement.
The nominee for prime minister, who graduated Harvard Business School and turns 44 on Sunday, has a degree in public management from the Netherlands and is a managing partner at Horizon Capital, a private equity firm with assets primarily in Ukraine and Moldova.
He has also chaired the board of directors of Moldova’s Purcari winery, considered the crown jewel of the country’s winemaking sector.
Munteanu, another businessman who like Sandu previously worked at the World Bank, had been chosen to boost the economy and bring it closer to the EU, but turbulence with PAS saw him vacate his post less than a year into holding office.
He resigned on 3 July after less than eight months, stating that he could no longer carry out his mandate “according to (his) principles and (his) convictions”.
The EU last month officially launched a first round of accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova. Both countries became official EU candidate countries on 23 June 2022.
Additional sources • AFP
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