Leo Varadkar said he hoped the European Council could agree a joint call for a humanitarian ceasefire.
Leo Varadkar arrived at the summit a day after Ireland advised all its citizens in Lebanon to leave the country
Ireland’s deputy premier Micheal Martin said on Thursday that the “precautionary” step was taken due to the possibility of a “sudden” escalation.On the EU negotiations over a joint position, the Taoiseach added: “We mightn’t use the exact same language as the United Nations uses, but I hope we will, as the European Union, call for a humanitarian ceasefire, a humanitarian pause. I’m not obsessed about what language we use.
“I’m hopeful that we can agree a statement to call for a pause, a cessation of hostilities, a ceasefire. I think the vast majority of countries want that,” he said.“When it comes to matters of foreign policy in the European Union, they’re done by consensus, not by majority vote, and that’s something we have to bear in mind.
“In Ireland, we have a lot of sympathy for the Palestinian people, often driven by our own historical experience. But to get a consensus among 27 people, we’re going to have to compromise, we’re going to have to understand each other. “That’s actually one of the points I’ll be making, is it’s really important that we don’t play into the hands of Hamas here, what Hamas wants is an escalation, they want to see this conflict spread to the wider region.
Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs has also advised against travel to Lebanon, citing a “highly volatile” situation.
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