Ireland is emerging as one of the few European voices demanding accountability from Israel as the war on Gaza rages on. Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Harris has urged the European Union to review its long-standing Association Agreement with Israel, invoking the bloc’s own principles of human rights and international law.

In a public statement, Harris reminded fellow EU leaders that the partnership agreement, which has governed political and trade relations since 2000, is legally bound to the respect of human rights. With Gaza now in ruins, hospitals non-functional, and thousands of civilians – including children – buried under the rubble, he warned that words without action mean complicity.

Harris’s call echoes growing frustration across parts of Europe where citizens are demanding an end to what they see as political paralysis in the face of mass suffering. He stressed that Europe cannot look away while entire neighbourhoods are flattened and humanitarian aid is deliberately obstructed. “The world is doing almost nothing,” he said, a remark many Palestinians would say painfully mirrors their lived reality.

As the devastation in Gaza deepens, Ireland’s stance is a rare but vital signal that silence from Europe is not unanimous. For the people of Gaza, whose daily lives have become a battle for survival, such calls are more than diplomatic gestures — they are glimmers of long-denied solidarity.