Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar has slammed Israel for cutting off water and electricity to the Gaza Strip, calling the action a violation of international humanitarian law.
"Israel is under threat. They do have a right to defend themselves, but they don't have the right to breach international humanitarian law," said Varadkar said in an interview with public broadcaster TVE that aired late Thursday night.
Expressing his concern about the situation in Gaza, he said, "To me, it amounts to collective punishment. Cutting off power, cutting off fuel supplies and water supplies, that's not the way a respectable democratic state should conduct itself."
He also urged Palestinian group Hamas to immediately release all hostages, saying Israel is "justified in attacking Hamas in Gaza and elsewhere."
Meanwhile, former President Mary Robinson described Israel's response to Hamas attacks last weekend as collective punishment, according to the broadcaster.
"It is carrying out the massive, indiscriminate bombing of Gaza, so civilians are suffering... 1,200 have been killed already in the last few days," she said, adding "I do not know how many injured, on top of that. There is the siege blocking food and fuel and electricity and water."
Robinson also said Ireland has already been a "very good voice in acknowledging the suffering of occupation and the continual problems of Palestinians over decades."
In a dramatic escalation of Middle East tensions, Israeli forces launched a sustained and forceful military campaign against the Gaza Strip, a response to a military offensive by the Palestinian group Hamas in Israeli territories.
The conflict began on Saturday when Hamas initiated Operation Al-Aqsa Flood against Israel, a multi-pronged surprise attack including a barrage of rocket launches and infiltrations into Israel via land, sea, and air.
Hamas said the operation was in retaliation for the storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem and Israeli settlers' growing violence against Palestinians.
The Israeli military then launched Operation Swords of Iron against Hamas targets within the Gaza Strip. Israel's response has extended into cutting water and electricity supplies to Gaza, further worsening the living conditions in an area that has reeled under a crippling siege since 2007.
