BRUSSELS, Monday, January 23, 2023 (WAFA) – Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin said Israel should pay compensation for destroying European Union-funded structures in the occupied West Bank.
Speaking to reporters upon arrival in Brussels to attend an EU foreign ministers meeting and ahead of a meeting with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh, Martin said: “I don’t think it is acceptable that on an ongoing basis, the European Union is contributing very significant aid to Palestinians and to Palestinian infrastructure for it to be habitually destroyed. It should be recompensed when that happens.”
He added, “We also believe the ongoing settlement issue is unacceptable. In our view, it is unacceptable from the humanitarian perspective. It is provocative, and it is not conducive to the two-state solution,” which he stressed Ireland supports “but the facts on the ground are making that very difficult.”
