Israeli strikes on Gaza 'need to stop,' says Ireland

• 'We need to condemn with our strongest voice, what is happening nowadays in Gaza,' says Spanish premier

LONDON

The “shocking” Israeli bombing of Gaza seen over the last 48 hours needs to stop, the Irish taoiseach (prime minister) said Thursday, urging Europe to say "stop to the killing and to the slaughter."

Micheal Martin said the bombing that has occurred over the last 48 hours led to the deaths of so many innocents, while recent statements from Israeli leaders seem to point to “collective punishment of the Palestinians within Gaza."

"It is quite shocking. It needs to stop. Europe needs to say stop to the killing and to the slaughter that's going on in Gaza at the moment," he told reporters ahead of a European Council meeting in Brussels.

EU leaders are meeting in Brussels on Thursday and Friday to discuss competitiveness and to follow up on a special March 6 European Council held to address recent developments in Ukraine and the next steps on defense.

Also saying that all the hostages need to be released, Martin also stressed that there is a need to move "very quickly" to phase two of the ceasefire, which was originally agreed and which should be complied with.

"Many people had come back after the (Jan. 19) ceasefire to their homes in the expectation that they were going to experience some degree of peace and harmony, and that has been shattered by what appears to be very indiscriminate bombing” he underlined.

Spain 'strongly' condemns recent attacks on Gaza

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, for his part, told reporters that the respect to international law is one of the topics that they will discuss in the meeting, adding that it is currently "being absolutely trampled on and violated once again in Gaza."

"It is very important that all member states and also the European Union, we stick to the principles of the international rules and also the humanitarian international rules," Sanchez said. "This means that we need to condemn with our strongest voice, what is happening nowadays in Gaza."

He noted that it is also important to discuss about the importance of the Arab countries, reconstruction of Gaza and how do the bloc move forward towards a two-state solutions.

"This is the Spanish position since the beginning of the of this war and of course, we will work with our Arab colleagues to move forward and to materialize ... a very fair goal for the Palestinians, which means to have its own state," he concluded.

More than 700 Palestinians have been killed and over 900 others injured in renewed Israeli airstrikes in Gaza since Tuesday, shattering the ceasefire agreement that took hold in January.

Nearly 50,000 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children, and more than 112,000 injured in a brutal Israeli military campaign in Gaza since October 2023.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.