Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 17 October 2012
29. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if his attention has been drawn to the fact that between March 2001 and October 2011 Israeli forces destroyed €50 million worth of Palestinian infrastructure, €30 million of which was funded by the EU; and if he will raise this with other EU counterparts. [44806/12]
View answerThere is growing concern about this issue within the EU. Some 82 projects which have received funding from the EU or its member States have been damaged or entirely destroyed by Israeli actions in this period, with damage estimated at €30 million. While I am not aware of any Irish-funded work which was destroyed, some of the projects had been funded by the Humanitarian Response Fund, to which we have made contributions. Some of the damage may have been inflicted inadvertently in genuine security-related operations. The largest single item, amounting to about one third of the total, was the complete destruction in late 2001/early 2002 of Gaza Airport, which the EU and other donors had been preparing for re-opening. Most of the damage and destruction carried out was concentrated during the periods of the second intifada (2001-2004) or during Operation Cast Lead, the Israeli military operation in Gaza, in late 2008/early 2009. Nonetheless, it remains evident that much of the destruction caused has been quite deliberate and includes structures such as solar panels, wells and cisterns as well as refugee housing for people already displaced from elsewhere.
The EU is deeply concerned about the destruction of humanitarian and development assistance projects funded by European taxpayers. But I am just as concerned about the much wider practice of the continuing destruction of Palestinian homes and infrastructure, of which this is just the most visible element. This practice is equally abhorrent and unjustified.
This is an issue of ongoing and widespread concern within the EU. It was included in the issues addressed in the May 2012 Foreign Affairs Council Conclusions. Partners are continuing to examine measures to prevent such destruction, especially of EU-funded works.
