Palestinian ambassador formally received by Taoiseach for the first time

By Gráinne Ní Aodha, PA

Irish premier Simon Harris has met the Palestinian ambassador, after Ireland made the historic move to recognise a Palestinian state last week.

Dr Jilan Wahba Abdalmajid’s visit to Government Buildings in Dublin on Thursday marks the first time a Palestinian ambassador has been formally received in the Taoiseach’s office.

During the meeting, Dr Abdalmajid thanked Mr Harris and the Irish people for the recognition, and said it was a source of strength and hope for the people of Palestine.

She briefed the Taoiseach on the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza and the urgent need for more food and aid.

They spoke about efforts to secure a ceasefire and the release of hostages, after a three-phase proposal was announced by US President Joe Biden last week.

The Taoiseach said the onus was now on all parties to “stretch themselves” and to engage, despite any internal pressures.

Ireland’s recognition, made as part of a joint diplomatic move with Spain and Norway, is based on the 1967 borders. Slovenia also recognised Palestinian statehood this week, after its parliament voted overwhelmingly in favour of it.

Mr Harris has said that the recognition of Palestine was the beginning and not the end of a process, and that work would continue with other nations towards a two-state solution.

Some politicians and protesters in Ireland, while welcoming the move, have called on the government to take further action such as implementing sanctions on Israel in response to the rising death toll in Gaza.

On Thursday, a Mothers Against Genocide and Teachers for Palestine demonstration was held outside the Green Party’s Dublin headquarters, where protesters chanted “aid not bombs”.

It comes on the day that an Israeli strike hit a school sheltering displaced Palestinians in central Gaza, killing more than 30 people including 23 women and children, according to health officials.

Since Israel launched its military offensive in Gaza after Hamas’s attack on Israel in October – in which militants killed 1,200 people and took another 250 hostage – at least 36,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 70,000 injured, according to Gaza’s health ministry.

Around 80 per cent of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million has been displaced and United Nations officials have said that parts of the territory are experiencing famine.