Addressing world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday, Irish Prime Minister Michael Martin said the international community had failed to defend Palestinian rights and warned that ongoing violence and settlement expansion were destroying prospects for lasting peace. Speaking at the 81st session of the General Assembly in New York, Martin said the international legal system was under "extreme pressure" and the denial of basic human rights was a prominent challenge of the era.
"We, the united international community, have failed Palestine," Martin said, pointing to the continued suffering of civilians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
Martin said that the first phase of the Gaza peace plan agreed between Israel and Hamas last October was welcome, but did not bring fundamental changes to the situation on the ground. He emphasized the ongoing Israeli attacks, restrictions on humanitarian aid and the continued suffering of civilians.
He also condemned the expansion of illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and said developments there were undermining the prospects for a just and lasting peace.
"What we are seeing on the ground are deliberate moves by some people to make the possibility of a two-state solution impossible," he said, referring to statements made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against the establishment of a Palestinian state, while Israel has approved construction in the E1 area.
The UN Secretary-General has similarly warned that the expansion of illegal settlements and other developments in the Occupied Palestinian Territories are destroying the environment needed for a viable Palestinian state and called for renewed efforts towards a two-state solution. He also said that Ireland supports international legal accountability.
Martin reiterated Ireland's position in support of the International Criminal Court, saying "there can be no exceptions for war crimes" and that measures taken against attempts to undermine the court must be withdrawn.
His comments came during a wide-ranging debate at the United Nations on Gaza, Palestinian statehood and the future of the two-state solution.
The UN Secretary General has called for a ceasefire, expanded humanitarian access and adherence to international law.
Martin said the international community must finally face up to the record of events in Gaza, and warned that the consequences would have lasting moral and political ramifications.
Ireland has been among the leading proponents of Palestinian rights and a negotiated two-state solution, while Martin's address put the issue at the center of an appeal for a stronger international commitment to human rights and international law.