Ireland's Stance On Gaza Not Affecting Evacuation Of Citizens - Taoiseach
The Taoiseach says there is no indication Ireland is being penalised for its stance on the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Around 40 Irish citizens are in Gaza and to date none have been allowed leave the enclave through the Rafah crossing with Egypt.
There has been concern Ireland's criticism of Israel's actions in Gaza could impact efforts to get Irish citizens out.
Leo Varadkar told the Dáil that is not the case:
"There are roughly 8,000 EU and foreign nationals in Gaza and only a handful have been allowed leave so far.
"We've been given no indication that Ireland is somehow being penalised for the stance we're taking [in calling for] an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.
"We will not be changing out position on that."
The Department of Foreign Affairs says it is in contact regularly with Irish citizens stuck in Gaza.
It said the list of all those citizens who want to leave Gaza has been given to the "relevant authorities."
