Sir, – The Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) welcomes the announcement by the Government regarding the provision of €6 million in extra funding to the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which is tasked with overseeing the welfare of Palestinian refugees. However, we also call on the Government to do more to help end Israel’s illegal blockade of Gaza which is putting Palestinians at risk during the Covid-19 pandemic and to put pressure on Israel to ensure it meets its legal obligations to provide adequate healthcare to the people of Palestine.

Palestinian refugees are grateful for this funding boost for UNWRA, and we in the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign thank the Government for its generosity. However, we reiterate our view that the Government calls for an end to Israel’s cruel and illegal siege of Gaza, and for the immediate provision of necessary emergency healthcare equipment and that it should use its influence to get the EU to do the same. This is all the more urgent as medical officials in Gaza, where there are currently 13 cases, announced they had run out of Covid-19 testing kits.