Micheál Martin says Israel tried to ‘undermine’ UNRWA as independent report finds country provided ‘no evidence’ of Hamas links

He said Israel wanted to undermine the body, which provides humanitarian supplies, and to "take it out of the equation," in some of his strongest commentary yet on the Gaza situation.

Mr Martin was commenting after an independent French-led report said Israel had provided no evidence for its claims that 12 named individuals were involved.

He said the employees had been suspended, "without any evidence being brought forward," and assessments were still going on by the agency.

"I think the most worrying aspect of that was that there was a very sudden rush to judgment in terms of the entirety of the UNRWA organisation," Mr Martin said in Cairo on a visit to the Middle East, where he will visit the Rafah crossing today.

"I think, some fail to grasp the absolute centrality of UNRWA to providing aid to the Palestinians, not just in Gaza, but in the West Bank, in Jordan, in Syria and in Lebanon," he said, after Britain, the US and other countries either suspended or heavily reduced funding in the wake of Israel's allegations.

"There's a political element to this as well, because UNRWA in many ways reflects the principle the right of return for Palestinians in the event of a final two-state solution," the Tánaiste explained.

"So if you undermine UNRWA and essentially remove it, you remove the right to return. So in our view, there was a desire in Israel to both undermine UNRWA and to take it out of the equation for both political reasons and other reasons which we found unacceptable – given the role that UNRWA plays in humanitarian supplies."

Mr Martin said also that it would be a natural consequence of Ireland's recognition of Palestinian statehood, expected to come this summer, that a full Embassy would be opened in Ramallah, instead of just a representation mission.

Ireland always felt that the optimal timing of co-ordinated recognition – with other countries such as Belgium, Spain, Malta and Slovenia – would have been around publication of the Arab peace plan, "with some degree of acceptance of that plan by US and Europe," he said, joined to an immediate ceasefire.

He said he would be meeting Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry to that end today, having already received "a certain steer" from the Qatari Prime Minister.

Another dimension was that the United Nations General Assembly had voted on admitting Palestine to the United Nations. "That is an important context as well."

He added: "We're working with Spain, Slovenia and others, and we intend to do it (recognition) together."

Ireland since the beginning of 2023 has allocated about €56 million to Palestine overall, Mr Martin said, compared to a normal annual average of about €15 million.

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"But we're very conscious that many, many people have been very critical of the pace at which aid is getting into Gaza. Even at the foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg om Monday we heard from the commissioner on humanitarian affairs in terms of the incredible delays."

In going to Rafah today, Mr Martin said he wanted "to see it for myself and to hear first-hand from people who are in Gaza."

He added: "We need a surge of humanitarian aid to deal with the crisis that's there."

On the political track, Egypt and Jordan are critical to progress, he said, referring to the two countries involved in his trip. The Tánaiste visits Amman tomorrow.

Both countries had been central to the original peace plan agreed at Oslo with President Clinton, he said.

He said he wanted their read of the situation as to the challenges and security risks "that are entailed in a regional escalation" that could break out after hostilities between Israel and Iran.

Ireland took an opposite view to most countries on UNRWA after the Israeli claims, he said. "We actually increase our aid. And I'm hoping now, as a result of the publication of this report, that some countries who have paused their support will resume,” he said.