Patients, staff and displaced leave on foot as Israel orders Gaza’s Al-Shifa hospital evacuated

Update Patients, staff and displaced leave on foot as Israel orders Gaza’s Al-Shifa hospital evacuated
Tents and shelters used by displaced Palestinians stand at the yard of Al Shifa hospital during the Israeli ground operation around the hospital, in Gaza City. (File/Reuters)
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Updated 18 November 2023
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Patients, staff and displaced leave on foot as Israel orders Gaza’s Al-Shifa hospital evacuated

Patients, staff and displaced leave on foot as Israel orders Gaza’s Al-Shifa hospital evacuated
  • At least 450 patients unable to be moved remained at Al-Shifa hospital
  • Israel claims Hamas operates a base underneath Al-Shifa, a charge the militants deny
  • Hospital director says Israeli troops instructed him to ensure “the evacuation of patients, wounded, the displaced and medical staff”

GAZA CITY: Hundreds of people fled on foot Saturday after Israel’s army ordered the evacuation of Gaza’s main hospital where more than 2,000 patients, medics and displaced people were trapped by the war between Israel and Hamas.
An AFP journalist witnessed the movement, on a road leading south, but health officials in the Hamas-ruled territory said 450 patients unable to be moved remained at Al-Shifa hospital. The facility has become the focus of the war that is entering its seventh week after Hamas’s October 7 attacks on southern Israel.
Israel has been pressing military operations inside the hospital, searching for the Hamas operations center it says lies under the sprawling complex — a charge Hamas denies.
Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas in response to the October 7 attacks which Israeli officials say killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and saw about 240 people taken hostage.
The army’s air and ground campaign has since killed 12,000 people, including 5,000 children, according to the Hamas government which has ruled Gaza since 2007.
In Gaza City on Saturday morning, Israeli troops ordered over loudspeakers the evacuation of the Al-Shifa hospital “in the next hour,” an AFP journalist at the scene reported.
They called the hospital’s director, Mohammed Abu Salmiya, to instruct him to ensure “the evacuation of patients, wounded, the displaced and medical staff, and that they should move on foot toward the seafront,” he told AFP.
Israel has come under mounting pressure to back up its allegations that Hamas is using hospitals as command centers, a charge denied by Hamas, an Islamist movement with an armed wing. Al-Shifa hospital has also rejected the allegation.
The United Nations estimated 2,300 patients, staff and displaced Palestinians were sheltering at Al-Shifa before Israeli troops entered the facility on Wednesday.

Evacuation order
Israel has told Palestinians to move from the north of Gaza for their safety, but deadly air strikes continue to hit central and southern areas of the narrow coastal territory.
“They said the south was safer, so we moved,” Azhar Al-Rifi told AFP.
But her family was caught in another strike that killed seven relatives, including her five-year-old nephew.
Nada Abu Hiya, aged eight, said she suffered the third bombing of the war at the Nuseirat refugee camp on Friday.
“There are bombings everywhere,” she said. “My grandmother is dead, my mother is dead, my grandfather is dead, my uncle is dead, they destroyed our house. Our neighbors’ house is also destroyed and they are all dead.”
Israel has imposed a siege on Gaza, allowing just a trickle of aid in from Egypt but barring most shipments of fuel over concerns Hamas could divert supplies for military purposes.
A first consignment of fuel entered Gaza after Israel’s war cabinet bowed to pressure from its ally the United States and agreed to allow two diesel tankers a day into the Palestinian territory.
“We took that decision to prevent the spread of epidemics,” Israel’s national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi said.

Fuel shortage
A two-day blackout caused by fuel shortages ended after a first delivery arrived from Egypt late Friday, but UN officials continued to plead for a ceasefire, warning no part of Gaza is safe.
A senior US official said Washington had exerted huge pressure on Israel for weeks to allow fuel in.
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said 70 percent of residents have no access to clean water in south Gaza, where raw sewage has begun to flow on the streets.
Under the deal, 140,000 liters (37,000 gallons) of fuel would be allowed in every 48 hours, of which 20,000 liters will be earmarked for generators to restore the phone network, the US official said.
A communications blackout hampered aid deliveries, UNRWA said. Humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths told the UN General Assembly that fuel supplies to the agency so far were “a fraction of what is needed to meet the minimum of our humanitarian responsibilities.”
The Hamas health ministry said 24 patients had died in 48 hours due to the lack of fuel for generators.
In the latest bloodshed, a strike on a residential building in the southern city of Hamad killed 26 people, the director of the Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis said.
“I was asleep and we were surprised by the strike. At least 20 bombs were dropped,” Imed Al-Mubasher, 45, told AFP.
His wife Sabrin Mussa said: “All of a sudden, the house caught fire. I found myself with gravel in my mouth and I immediately looked for my husband and daughters.
“I saw human remains everywhere,” and screamed for help, she said.
The Israeli military has yet to respond to a request for comment.

Targeting hospitals
Israel has come under scrutiny for targeting hospitals in northern Gaza, but says the facilities are being used by Hamas — a claim rejected by the group and medical staff.
The military says it has found rifles, ammunition, explosives and the entrance to a tunnel shaft at the hospital complex, claims that cannot be independently verified.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said, without providing details, that there were “strong indications” hostages may have been held at the Shifa facility.
Israel has not recovered hostages at the hospital but said it found the bodies of two kidnapped women not far away.
The remains of kidnapped woman soldier Noa Marciano, 19, were found at “a structure adjacent to Al-Shifa hospital” on Friday, a day after the body of 65-year-old Yehudit Weiss was recovered.
Those held hostage range from infants to octogenarians, and there has been little information on their fate despite ongoing negotiations mediated by Qatar and Egypt to secure releases.
In Gaza, more than 1.5 million people have been internally displaced, and Israel’s blockade has left civilians facing the “immediate possibility of starvation,” according to World Food Programme head Cindy McCain.
More than half of Gaza’s hospitals are no longer functional due to combat, damage or shortages, and people are waiting four to six hours for half the normal portion of bread.


Houthis attack Ashkelon, ships off Yemeni Coast

Houthis attack Ashkelon, ships off Yemeni Coast
Updated 12 sec ago
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Houthis attack Ashkelon, ships off Yemeni Coast

Houthis attack Ashkelon, ships off Yemeni Coast
  • Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said drones were launched at an industrial zone in Ashkelon
  • Three vessels targeted by the militia in Red and Arabian seas, Bab Al-Mandab Strait

AL-MUKALLA: Yemen’s Houthi militia said on Tuesday it launched drones at the Israeli city of Ashkelon a day after claiming to have attacked several ships in international waters off Yemen.

In a statement, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said drones were launched at an industrial zone in Ashkelon, claiming they “successfully” struck their target, and vowing to carry out more attacks until Israel ends its military operations in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.

Israeli media reported explosions in Ashkelon and in Nahariya caused by another drone fired from Lebanon. The Israeli military said the drone launched from Yemen landed in a “open area” in Ashkelon.

“Following an initial examination regarding the UAV that fell in an open area in Ashkelon in southern Israel earlier today, it was determined that the UAV was launched from Yemen,” it said in a statement.

Previous Houthi missile and drone attacks on Israel triggered two waves of retaliatory airstrikes by Israeli warplanes, which struck power stations, ports, and fuel storage facilities in the western city of Hodeidah, which the Houthis control, in July and September.

Sarea said in a broadcast on Monday night the Houthis also attacked three ships in the Arabian Sea, Red Sea and Bab Al-Mandab Strait, the latest in a series of attacks on maritime trade in a campaign the group claims is in support of the people of Palestine and Lebanon. 

He identified the ships as the SC Montreal, which was attacked with two drones while sailing in the southern Arabian Sea, the Maersk Kowloon, which was attacked with a cruise missile while sailing in the Red Sea, and the Motaro, which was attacked in the Red Sea and Bab Al-Mandab Strait with multiple ballistic missiles.

The three ships were targeted because their parent companies violated a ban on sailing to Israeli ports, Sarea said.

All three ships are Liberian-flagged vessels. The SC Montreal is sailing from the Seychelles to Oman. The Maersk Kowloon is sailing from Oman to an unknown destination, and the Motaro from Russia to China.

The Houthi statement came hours after the UK Maritime Trade Operations, an agency that documents ship attacks, reported on Monday that the master of the Motaro, sailing 25 nautical miles south of Yemen’s Mocha town on the Red Sea, reported three explosions at various intervals near the ship, but that the vessel and its crew were safe.

The Joint Maritime Information Center identified the attacked ship as the M/V Motaro, “on transit” from Ust Luga in Russia to Shanghai, adding that the ship had no connection to Israel, the US, or the UK, and it could have been attacked because another ship owned by the same company visited Israel.

“Indirectly (through multiple layers), within the ownership structure, JMIC has discovered a subsidiary linkage to a vessel visiting an Israeli port in the recent past,” the JMIC said.

Since November, the Houthis have seized a commercial ship — the Galaxy Leader — and its crew, sunk two others, and set fire to several more, firing hundreds of ballistic missiles, drones, and drone boats at civilian and naval ships in the group’s campaign.

Critics dispute the Houthi claims of support for the Palestinians or Lebanon, arguing that the beleaguered militia used the conflict to recruit new fighters, increase public support, deploy forces in contested areas, and silence voices calling on the Houthis to repair crumbling services and pay public employees.


Kurdish leader in Syria calls for diplomatic solutions to conflict with Turkiye

Kurdish leader in Syria calls for diplomatic solutions to conflict with Turkiye
Updated 29 October 2024
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Kurdish leader in Syria calls for diplomatic solutions to conflict with Turkiye

Kurdish leader in Syria calls for diplomatic solutions to conflict with Turkiye
  • Turkiye has intensified its airstrikes in northern Iraq and northeastern Syria following an Oct. 23 attack on a defense company in Ankara

QAMISHLI: The leader of the US-backed Kurdish forces in northeast Syria in an interview with The Associated Press called for international mediators to push for diplomatic solutions to the complex web of conflicts in Syria, including the escalating Turkish bombardment of Kurdish areas.
Turkiye has intensified its airstrikes in northern Iraq and northeastern Syria following an Oct. 23 attack on a defense company in Ankara that killed five people and wounded more than 20. Turkish airstrikes targeted dozens of sites believed to be linked to or affiliated with the Kurdistan’s Worker’s Party (PKK), which claimed responsibility for the attack.
Mazloum Abdi, commander-in-chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), said that the attack in Ankara served as an excuse for a long-planned Turkish operation in Syria.
“The Turks claim that these attacks are a response to the recent activity in Ankara. But that is not the reason, because the type and continuity of the attacks now entering their sixth day show that this is not a mere response. The Ankara incident was just an excuse,” Abdi told AP in an interview Tuesday evening.
He alleged that the Turkish strikes, which have damaged electricity and oil facilities and bakeries, have had severe consequences for civilians and are part of a broader strategy by Turkiye to force a demographic shift by pushing Kurdish residents out of the area.
The strikes have killed at least 18 people, mostly civilians, with injured more than 60. Abdi said in some cases Turkish strikes had targeted emergency teams responding to the initial strike.
The Turkish bombardment hinders the fight against the Daesh group
Still, he said, “We are open to dialogue with all parties, including Turkiye, even though their attacks persist.”
He appealed to the US-led coalition formed to fight the Islamic State militant group and to other mediators to push for diplomatic solutions.
The PKK is considered a terror organization by Turkiye’s Western allies, including the United States. Turkiye and the US, however, disagree on the status of the Syrian Kurdish groups, which have been allied with Washington in the fight against the IS group in Syria.
The escalation in northern Syria comes as the United States has agreed to a gradual troop reduction in Iraq, part of a larger drawdown expected to conclude by end of 2026.
While the withdrawal applies solely to Iraq, with no immediate plans to exit Syria, Abdi expressed concern over how the coalition’s diminishing presence in the region could affect operations in Syria.
“We, along with coalition forces, conduct daily activities to neutralize Daesh cells, and if the coalition withdraws, the threat level would rise across the region,” Abdi said.
He added that Turkish bombardment has hindered the SDF’s ability to conduct anti-IS operations, delaying two planned campaigns against cells in Syria.
US officials have yet to announce any specific timeline for troop reductions in Syria, though discussions continue amid rising tensions.
Analysts have said that a US departure could lead to increased pressure on the SDF from both Turkish and Syrian government forces, exacerbating the region’s security vacuum and the conflict’s toll on civilians.
Talks ongoing between the SDF and Assad’s government
Abdi said that dialogue between the SDF and the government of Bashar Assad in Damascus has been ongoing since the early years of the 13-year-old Syrian uprising-turned-civil-war, though these discussions have yielded limited progress.
“We have made numerous attempts to reach an agreement with the Syrian regime, but they have yet to produce results,” he said. The main sticking point, he said, has been the Syrian government’s reluctance to recognize the SDF’s administrative and military autonomy in the region. The Kurdish forces have called for a constitutional change that that formalizes the SDF’s role in security and governance after more than a decade of self-administration.
“For us, there are some red lines,” Abdi said.
The prospect of reconciliation between Turkiye and the Syrian government presents additional challenges. There have been several attempts at a rapprochement between Damascus and Ankara that so far have not progressed to an agreement.
According to Abdi, Turkiye is pushing for a deal that would dismantle the existing self-administration in northeastern Syria.
“The Turkish government said clearly that they would reconcile with the Syrian regime on the basis of eliminating the existing status of this region, which makes us their target,” he said.
The proposed reactivation of the 1998 Adana Agreement between Turkiye and Syria, aimed at addressing security concerns along their shared border, could have serious ramifications for the Kurdish region.


UAE president receives Russian security council secretary

UAE president receives Russian security council secretary
Updated 29 October 2024
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UAE president receives Russian security council secretary

UAE president receives Russian security council secretary

DUBAI: UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan discussed the latest regional and international updates with Russian Secretary of the Security Council Sergei Shoigu in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.

Sheikh Mohamed and Shoigu discussed “ongoing efforts to enhance cooperation and joint initiatives between the two nations”, WAM reported.  

The Russian Security Council Secretary conveyed to Sheikh Mohamed  the greetings of President Vladimir Putin and his hopes for continued growth in UAE-Russia relations. 

The two sides also exchanged views on several regional and international issues of shared interest.

Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan was recently on an official visit to Russia.


Satellite photos show Israeli strike likely hit important Iran Revolutionary Guard missile base

Satellite photos show Israeli strike likely hit important Iran Revolutionary Guard missile base
Updated 29 October 2024
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Satellite photos show Israeli strike likely hit important Iran Revolutionary Guard missile base

Satellite photos show Israeli strike likely hit important Iran Revolutionary Guard missile base
  • The damage at the base in Shahroud raises new questions about Israel’s attack early Saturday
  • Attack potentially further restrains the Guard’s ability to manufacture the solid-fuel ballistic missiles

DUBAI: Israel’s attack on Iran likely damaged a base run by the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard that builds ballistic missiles and launches rockets as part of its own space program, satellite images analyzed by The Associated Press on Tuesday showed.
The damage at the base in Shahroud raises new questions about Israel’s attack early Saturday, particularly as it took place in an area previously unacknowledged by Tehran and involved the Guard, a powerful force within Iran’s theocracy that so far has remained silent about any possible damage it suffered from the assault. Iran only has identified Israeli attacks as taking place in Ilam, Khuzestan and Tehran provinces — not in rural Semnan province where the base is located.
It also potentially further restrains the Guard’s ability to manufacture the solid-fuel ballistic missiles it needs to stockpile as a deterrent against Israel. Tehran long has relied on that arsenal as it cannot purchase the advanced Western weapons that Israel and Tehran’s Gulf Arab neighbors have armed themselves with over the years, particularly from the United States.
Satellite photos earlier analyzed by the AP of two military bases near Tehran also targeted by Israel shows sites there Iran uses in its ballistic missile manufacturing have been destroyed, further squeezing its program.
“We don’t know if Iranian production has been crippled as some people are saying or just damaged,” said Fabian Hinz, a missile expert and research fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies who studies Iran. “We’ve seen enough imagery to show there’s an impact.”
Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did the Israeli military.
Images show major building at Shahroud base destroyed
High-resolution satellite images from Planet Labs PBC taken for and analyzed by the AP showed the damage at the Guard’s Shahroud Space Center in Semnan, some 370 kilometers (230 miles) northeast of the Iranian capital, Tehran. Semnan also hosts the Imam Khomeini Space Center, which is used by Iran’s civilian space program.
The images showed a central, major building at the Shahroud Space Center had been destroyed, the shadow of its still-standing frame seen in the image taken Tuesday morning. Vehicles could be seen gathered around the site, likely from officials inspecting the damage, with more cars than normal parked at the site’s main gate nearby.
Three small buildings just to the south of the main structure also appeared to be damaged. Iran has been constructing new buildings at the base in recent months. Another hangar to the northeast of the main building also appeared to have been damaged.
Iran has not acknowledged any attack at Shahroud. However, given the damage done to multiple structures, it suggested the Israeli attack included pinpoint strikes on the base. Low-resolution images since the attack showed signs of damage at the site not seen before the assault — further pointing to Israeli missile strikes as being the culprit.
“We can’t 100 percent exclude the possibility it’s something else, but it’s almost certain this building got damaged because of an Israeli attack,” Hinz said.
Given that the large building had been surrounded by earthen berms, that suggests it handled high explosives, said Hinz, who long has studied the site. That central site likely deals with solid propellant mixing and casting operations, he added.
Large boxes next to the building likely are missile motor crates as well, Hinz said. Their sizes suggest they could be used for Iran’s Kheibar Shekan ballistic missile and the Fattah 1, a missile that Iran has claimed is able to reach Mach 15 — which is 15 times the speed of sound. Both have been used in Iran’s attacks on Israel during the Israel-Hamas war and the later ground invasion of Lebanon.
The strike at Shahroud, coupled with others across the country, likely have put more pressure on Iran’s theocracy, particularly as it assesses the damage to its main weapon arsenal and tries to downplay the attack.
“Due to preparedness and vigilance of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s armed forces, and timely reaction by the country’s air defense, limited damage was caused to some of the points hit,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi claimed in a meeting with foreign diplomats Tuesday in Tehran. “Necessary measures were taken immediately to restore the damaged equipment to operational state.”
US worries Guard’s space program a cover for missile research
A short distance from the destroyed buildings sits a concrete launch pad used by the Guard, which has conducted a series of successful missions putting satellites into space using mobile launchers. The Guard, which answers only to 85-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, revealed its secret space program back in 2020.
The US intelligence community’s 2024 worldwide threat assessment said Iran’s continued development of satellite launch vehicles “would shorten the timeline to produce” an intercontinental ballistic missile because it uses similar technology.
Intercontinental ballistic missiles can be used to deliver nuclear weapons. Iran is now producing uranium close to weapons-grade levels after the collapse of its nuclear deal with world powers. Tehran has enough enriched uranium for “several” nuclear weapons, if it chooses to produce them, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency repeatedly has warned.
Iran has always denied seeking nuclear weapons and says its space program, like its nuclear activities, is for purely civilian purposes. However, US intelligence agencies and the IAEA say Iran had an organized military nuclear program up until 2003. Parchin, one of the two military bases near Tehran targeted by Israel, saw a building linked to that program destroyed.
“Like with Iran’s nuclear program, you don’t build the system itself, you build all the technology under cover of a civilian program,” Hinz said.
Then, Iran could make the decision to pursue the weapon — or use its knowledge as a bargaining chip with the West over international sanctions.
But for now, the satellite photos suggest Iran is still trying to assess the aftermath of Israel’s attack.
“The picture that is emerging is one of significant damage to Iranian air defenses as well as missile launch facilities, both of which would be intended to show the Iranians that they are vulnerable to further strikes if they attempt retaliation,” an analysis published Monday by two experts at Britain’s Royal United Services Institute said.


UNRWA ban could result in more child deaths in Gaza, UNICEF says

UNRWA ban could result in more child deaths in Gaza, UNICEF says
Updated 29 October 2024
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UNRWA ban could result in more child deaths in Gaza, UNICEF says

UNRWA ban could result in more child deaths in Gaza, UNICEF says
  • Law passed by Israel to ban the UN Palestinian refugee agency from operating inside Israel has raised concerns
  • Other agencies said it would be impossible to fill the void
  • Gaza war mediator Qatar condemned the ban
  • UNRWA’s spokesman called the agency the backbone of humanitarian work in the Palestinian territories
  • Ireland’s Prime Minister Simon Harris urged the EU to review trade ties with Israel over ban

GENEVA: Israel’s decision to ban the UN relief agency UNRWA could result in the deaths of more children and represent a form of collective punishment for Gazans if fully implemented, UN agencies said on Tuesday.
A law passed by Israel on Monday to ban the UN Palestinian refugee agency from operating inside Israel has raised concerns about its ability to provide relief in Gaza after over a year of war.
“If UNRWA is unable to operate, it’ll likely see the collapse of the humanitarian system in Gaza,” said UNICEF spokesperson James Elder, who has worked extensively in Gaza since the Oct. 7 war began. “So a decision such as this suddenly means that a new way has been found to kill children.”
Other UN agencies at the same briefing said it would be impossible to fill the void. “It is indispensable and there is no alternative to it at this point,” said UN humanitarian office spokesperson Jens Laerke.
In response to a question about whether the ban represented a form of collective punishment against Gazans, he said: “I think it is a fair description of what they have decided here, if implemented, that this would add to the acts of collective punishment that we have seen imposed on Gaza.”
The head of the International Organization for Migration said IOM could not replace UNRWA in Gaza but that it could provide more relief to those in crisis. “That is a role that we are very, very keen to play, and one that we will be stepping up with the support of various stakeholders,” IOM Director-General Amy Pope said.

Qatar condemns ban

Gaza war mediator Qatar on Tuesday condemned the Israeli parliament’s decision to ban the UN agency for Palestinian refugees from operating in Israel, the Gulf emirate’s foreign ministry said.
Israeli lawmakers on Monday overwhelmingly voted to ban the agency, UNRWA, from working in Israel and annexed east Jerusalem.
The lawmakers also passed a measure prohibiting Israeli officials from working with UNRWA and its employees.
“We emphasize that stopping support for UNRWA will have disastrous consequences,” ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari told reporters.
“The international community cannot stand silent in the face of this disregard for its international institutions,” he added.

Keeping Gaza people ‘alive’

An official from the UN agency for Palestinian refugees said Tuesday the organization was “irreplaceable” as its network helps sustain the people of war-ravaged Gaza.
For more than seven decades, UNRWA has provided critical support to Palestinian refugees.
But the agency has faced mounting criticism from Israeli officials, escalating since the start of war in Gaza after Hamas’s October 7 attacks last year.
But Jonathan Fowler, UNRWA’s spokesman in Jerusalem, called the agency the backbone of humanitarian work in the Palestinian territories, especially in Gaza.
“UNRWA is irreplaceable, UNRWA is essential. That remains a fact, whatever the legislation that was passed yesterday,” Fowler, who called the bill “an outrage,” told AFP in an interview at the agency’s compound in east Jerusalem.
With around 18,000 staff the occupied West Bank and Gaza, including 13,000 education staff and 1,500 health care workers, UNRWA has delivered vital aid since 1949.
Fowler said UNRWA hopes the decision will be rescinded, and is “not in the mindset” of thinking of replacement.
“It is on the international community that if this moves forward, and on the Israeli authorities as members of the international community, to say what the plan B is,” should the decision be enforced in three months.
Unlike other UN agencies, which rely on external partners, UNRWA directly employs teachers and health care staff of its own, including 13,000 staff in Gaza.
“The entire UN system and other international players rely on UNRWA’s logistical networks, on UNRWA’s staff to do what is necessary to try to keep the population of Gaza alive. We are the backbone,” said Fowler.
“So the question is, who would be the people who would do this stuff?” he added.

Ireland urges EU to reconsider Israel trade

Ireland’s Prime Minister Simon Harris urged the EU to review trade ties with Israel Tuesday over Israeli lawmakers’ “despicable” ban of UNRWA.
The Irish leader criticized the Israeli parliament’s “shameful” banning of the agency, which coordinates nearly all aid to Gaza.
“The most important action that the European Union could take right now is reviewing trade relations,” Harris told reporters in Dublin before meeting incoming European Council president Antonio Costa.
“What Israel and the Israeli Knesset did last night was despicable, disgraceful and shameful. More people will die, more children will starve,” he said.
Harris added there was “no alternative” to UNRWA, and that he would discuss with Costa “how Europe now needs to find the moral courage... to act in relation to this.
“Ireland, Spain, Belgium, Slovenia and others have been calling for more actions at an EU level. I think that would be a very effective way and I’ll be continuing to make that case,” he said.
Costa replaces outgoing EU Council chief Charles Michel on December 1 and is touring European capitals prior to taking up the new post.
He did not speak to the media ahead of meeting Harris in the Irish capital.
Ireland, along with Spain, Norway and Slovenia, earlier this year formally recognized a Palestinian state comprising the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
They have been among the most outspoken critics of Israel’s conduct since the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas which sparked the latest rounds of violence across the region.
In February, Dublin and Madrid asked the EU to “urgently” examine whether Israel was complying with its human rights obligations in Gaza under an accord linking them to trade ties.
They noted the “EU/Israel Association Agreement... makes respect for human rights and democratic principles an essential element of the relationship.”