Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar has criticised the Israeli military for its ongoing bombardment of the Gaza Strip.
Varadkar called the strikes and the blockade of the Palestinian territory a form of “collective punishment”, CBS reports.
“Israel is under threat. They do have a right to defend themselves, but they don’t have the right to breach international humanitarian law,” Varadkar said in a Thursday interview with Irish state broadcaster RTÉ.
The Irish leader said Israel faces legitimate threats as a nation “surrounded by these brutal, savage, groups like Hamas and Hezbollah, countries like Iran, often supported by Islamic fundamentalists and anti-Semites around the world”.
He, however, called the ongoing airstrikes on Gaza deeply concerning and said, “cutting off power, cutting off fuel supplies and water supplies — that’s not the way a respectable democratic state should conduct itself.”
“I believe by targeting civilians and by cutting off civilian infrastructure, that is a breach of international humanitarian law,” Varadkar said.
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