Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 1 February 2024
160. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs the steps he is taking to ensure that the order made by the ICJ to prevent genocide in Gaza is followed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4768/24]
View answer164. Deputy Paul Donnelly asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will urgently conduct a detailed assessment of whether there is a risk that genocide is being committed in the context of the war in Gaza as a first step towards fulfilling Ireland’s duty to prevent genocide under the Genocide Convention of 1948. [4907/24]
View answer165. Deputy Paul Donnelly asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will join the case as an intervener in support of South Africa’s case in the International Court of Justice as soon as possible. [4908/24]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 160, 164 and 165 together.
I very much welcome the decision by the International Court of Justice to order provisional measures in the South Africa v Israel case last week.
In particular, the Court’s order to Israel to ensure its military does not commit actions prohibited under the Genocide Convention - and takes immediate and effective measures to enable the provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance in Gaza - are very significant.
The Court’s Order is legally binding. As I set out in my statement on the case on Friday, Israel must urgently implement all provisional measures set out in the Order, and the Government will be closely monitoring their implementation by Israel.
I have called for humanitarian access and the protection of civilians since the very beginning of the conflict. We continue to call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire; the unconditional release of all hostages; and full, safe and unhindered humanitarian access.
I have asked my Department to conduct a detailed and rigorous legal analysis of the provisional measures ordered by the Court and to consult with partners – including South Africa – with a view to deciding whether Ireland should seek to intervene in this case.
Interventions by states in cases such as this one do not result in the intervening state joining one side of the dispute or the other. Rather, interventions aim to assert a legal interpretation of the issue at hand, or to protect an interest of a legal nature that may be affected by the Court’s decision.
States usually seek the Court’s permission to intervene only once the applicant, in this case South Africa, has filed its memorial, which is likely to take some months. This is what occurred in the other recent cases in respect of the Genocide Convention, including Ukraine v Russia and The Gambia v Myanmar.
In the meantime, Ireland is participating in an ongoing advisory opinion case at the ICJ related to Israeli practices and policies in the occupied Palestinian territory. The Attorney General will represent Ireland in oral hearings in this case next month.
The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court is also continuing to investigate serious allegations of crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in and from Gaza, in the context of a wider investigation into the situation in Palestine.
