On 23 July 2014, the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva held a Special Session on the conflict in Gaza, which was then still taking place. At that session, Ireland made a statement characterising the situation as follows: "Ireland condemns both the firing of missiles from Gaza into Israel, by Hamas and other militant groups, and the killing of hundreds of civilians in military attacks by Israel on targets in Gaza which fail to respect the requirement under international law for any military action to be proportionate and discriminate. It is clear to us that neither side is paying adequate regard to the cost of their actions on innocent civilians." The statement continued: "Ireland fully accepts that the Government of Israel has the right to defend its people, but this right does not negate the rights of others. Any use of military force in self defence must be in accordance with international humanitarian law, and in particular must be both discriminate and proportionate. In view of the casualty figures, we are not convinced this has been the case."
The recent report by Breaking the Silence supports the assessment which we delivered at the time. Breaking the Silence is an important and internationally highly regarded organisation, with which my Department has frequent contact, and through which Israeli soldiers themselves speak out courageously about troubling aspects of the use of force.
The testimonies in the report seem to corroborate the picture of how it was that such dreadful level of civilian casualties occurred during the fighting. At the heart of the international rules regulating the use of force is the need to distinguish, at all times, between civilians and combatants and to ensure the proportionality of any activity aimed at a military objective, so as to minimise civilian casualties. Political leaders must accept responsibility for ordering military action on a scale that makes widespread, disproportionate civilian suffering unavoidable.
The Commission of Inquiry set up by the Human Rights Council, into the events of the Gaza conflict, is expected to submit its report to the HRC at the June session.
Finally, it is essential also, in any consideration of the terrible events in Gaza last summer, to stress again, as Ireland did in our statement to the Human Rights Council, that "the firing of missiles against Israeli civilian targets is without doubt contrary to international law."
