Ireland has signed a joint letter along with European counterparts condemning the Israeli government's plan to expand the conflict and capture Gaza City.
Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Harris and his counterparts in Iceland, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain "strongly condemn the recent announcement of the intensification of the occupation and the military offensive, including in Gaza City".
"This decision will only deepen the humanitarian crisis and further endanger the remaining hostages' lives. This operation will lead to an unacceptable high toll of deaths and the forced displacement of nearly one million Palestinian civilians," the letter states.
"We firmly reject any demographic or territorial changes in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Actions in this regard constitute a flagrant violation of international law and international humanitarian law."
Ireland will 'use every lever available' for Gaza ceasefire
Earlier today, Mr Harris said Ireland would "continue to use every lever available" to work towards a ceasefire in Gaza as well as the release of hostages and a "major surge in humanitarian aid".
Speaking at the Tullamore Show, Mr Harris described the starvation of people in Gaza as "utterly repulsive, and repugnant to everything any decent person could stand for".
"We now see the [Israeli President Benjamin] Netanyahu government take an extraordinarily dangerous step in the absolute wrong direction and we are joining today with a number of other European countries and countries in the broader European family like Norway in calling this out for what it is and condemning these actions," he said.
Mr Harris also refenced the thousands that took to the streets in Tel Aviv last night to call for an end to the war in Gaza, saying: "I've noted overnight the very significant unrest and upset that there is in Israel in relation to this and we’re now seeing thousands of people in Israel take to the streets and they’re saying to their government 'not in my name’."
