Irish hospitals set to treat Gaza war wounded
FINE Gael TD and Chairman of the Oireachtas Foreign Affairs Committee Pat Breen has urged the Government to allow Palestinian citizens who have been injured in the Israeli bombardment of Gaza to be treated in Irish hospitals.
“I will be urging the Government to accept these Palestinians for treatment in Irish hospitals on humanitarian grounds. The Palestinian authorities intend to ask the EU to accept up to 1,800 injured citizens, as they do not have the capacity to treat all the injured themselves. Ireland will be asked to accept a tiny number of these citizens,” the Clare TD said.
Mr Breen is seeking an application to allow 10 Palestinians who have been seriously injured in the violence to be treated here.
He has already spoken to the Palestinian Ambassador to Ireland about bringing some of the Gaza war wounded to Ireland for treatment.
“It’s estimated that more than 9,000 Palestinians have been injured; almost 3,000 of them are children. The huge damage caused to infrastructure in the Gaza strip means the ability of local authorities to care for the injured is severely compromised. Without adequate hospital treatment for the injured, it is feared that the death toll will rise.”
Meanwhile, former rugby international Trevor Hogan yesterday called for the immediate lifting of the “illegal siege of Gaza” at a major protest in Dublin attended by thousands of demonstrators.
“It is is not a negotiating demand — it’s an obligation,” he said.
As hostilites resumed yesterday following the end of a temporary ceasefire, Mr Hogan — who was arrested by the Israeli navy in 2011 as he attmepted to help deliver aid to Gaza — added: “We can’t allow Israel to launch another indiscriminate slaughter on the people of Gaza. We cannot wait until Israel again decides to obliterate entire neighbourhoods and families.”