Lessons from Northern Ireland can be drawn in resolving Israel-Hamas war: DUP leader

Lessons can be drawn from Northern Ireland in international efforts to resolve the growing Israel-Hamas war, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has said. The DUP leader said he stood by the right of Israel to defend its people from “terrorist insurgencies”. However, he said the conflict could only be resolved with a process of dialogue.

Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a surprise incursion into Israel on Saturday and killed hundreds of Israelis. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s administration has retaliated with a bombardment that has demolished neighbourhoods in the Gaza Strip, and halted the passage of food, water, fuel and medicine into the territory. The war has already claimed at least 2,300 lives on both sides. Responding to the Hamas attack, Sir Jeffrey said: “Like everyone in Northern Ireland I have looked on in horror at the scenes that have emerged from southern Israel with hundreds of innocent civilians, men, women and children slaughtered, some of them in their own homes, some at a music festival. “It is just barbaric. These are acts of terrorism, there is no other definition one can put. “This is not an act of war, this is not about following the rules of war, these atrocities breach international law, they are war crimes and they need to be dealt with as such. “We stand by the right of Israel under international law to defend its people, to protect its people from these kind of terrorist insurgencies.” The DUP leader said he hoped Israel’s response would be mindful of the need to avoid civilian casualties. He said: “There is no doubt Hamas want to put their people, their civilians, in harm’s way and that is wrong, that is also a war crime. “I think the international community needs to stand as one in condemning what Hamas has done. I believe it is utterly counter-productive for their own cause. “As in every conflict and war, wars and conflicts begin, but they also end. And then the question is what then? “I think there are lessons that can be drawn from our experience in Northern Ireland. Even the most seemingly intractable conflicts can be resolved but it requires dialogue, it requires a process and that has been lacking for some years in the Middle East. “We haven’t had a proper process, a proper dialogue, and that is something which needs to be given priority now by the international community. “I don’t think we can just stand by and say the violence is wrong, and it is, but we need to help Israel and the Palestinians to get to a point where they are sitting across a table and trying to resolve their differences. “That will require an end to the violence. “It does require that organisations like Hamas embrace the principles of democracy and non-violence and recognise that ultimately it is their own people they are harming when they engage in this kind of terrorism.”

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