The Socialist Lawyers’ Association of Ireland, chaired by solicitors Gary Daly and Erin Allen, yesterday called on the Irish government to “demand an immediate ceasefire” in the occupied Palestinian territories (OPT).

It also said the Irish government should reject Israeli calls for “mass population displacement” and object “in the strongest, most unequivocal possible terms to the proposed denial of basic humanitarian supplies to the population of Gaza including water, food and electricity”.

Ministers should call for an end to “the Israeli military campaign of indiscriminate bombing of residential areas in Gaza and resolutely object to the planned military invasion of Gaza”, it said.

Instead, Ireland could propose to act “as a broker of a just and equitable resolution to the causes of the conflict”, it added.

As well as calling on the government to send “aid and logistical support” to Gaza, the association said the 2001 Temporary Protection Directive (TPD) should be extended to Palestinian nationals living in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

“The European Council Decision on 4 March 2022 activated the TPD for the first time immediately after the Russian invasion of Ukraine and introduced temporary protection to Ukrainian nationals living in Ukraine who were displaced on or after 24 February 2022,” it said. “This should be immediately extended to Palestinians living in the OPT.”

The association’s statement follows an open letter sent to government by more than 135 civil society organisations, including FLAC and Community Law & Mediation, which urged the Irish government to help stop Israel committing war crimes in Gaza.

The Socialist Lawyers’ Association of Ireland was founded in January and aims to operate as a network of radical lawyers to assist social, environmental and industrial movements in Ireland. It is open to solicitors, barristers, legal academics and law students.