Tony Connelly

5 days ago | rte.ie | Tony Connelly

Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Harris has described the US attack on Iran's nuclear facilities as "a very unhelpful intervention."He told reporters in Brussels: "There are international laws that say you shouldn't [attack nuclear installations]. I'm also very clear…that actually the actions of the United States added a significant level of danger to an already volatile situation.

5 days ago | rte.ie | Tony Connelly

EU foreign ministers are meeting in Brussels at the start of a week of high-level diplomacy on the Middle East and Ukraine, with the NATO summit in The Hague tomorrow and a summit of EU leaders on Thursday. Foreign ministers will give their initial response to an EU report which holds that Israel is in breach of its obligations under its trade arrangements with Europe due the conduct of its war in Gaza and its activities in the occupied West Bank.

1 week ago | rte.ie | Tony Connelly

The review into whether Israel is in violation of its obligations under its trade relations with the European Union, due to its conduct of the war in Gaza, was shrouded in secrecy and hobbled by last minute timing. National capitals only got the assessment late on Friday afternoon - foreign ministers are supposed to give a detailed response at a meeting in Brussels on Monday. Diplomats complained about having little time to assess the review's contents.

1 week ago | rte.ie | Tony Connelly

A review into Israel's compliance with its human rights obligations, enshrined in its trade and political relations with the European Union, will be circulated to member states later today. The review, which was ordered by EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, is expected to find that Israel is in violation of Article 2 of the EU-Israel Association Agreement in its conduct of the Gaza war. Article 2 of the agreement binds both parties to human rights and international humanitarian law.

1 week ago | rte.ie | Tony Connelly

Over 100 international human rights and humanitarian organisations, as well as trade unions, have jointly called on the EU to suspend elements of its trade association with Israel as a result of its continuing war on Gaza. The signatories of the joint statement - published by Human Rights Watch (HRW) - include ActionAid Ireland, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties and Oxfam Ireland.