By Burak Bir
LONDON (AA) - Irish members of the European Parliament have criticized a conditional cease-fire call by the EU, saying it is not a call for a permanent truce but an "open-ended license for genocide."
In a joint statement on Thursday, Mick Wallace and Clare Daly denounced Fine Gael MEPs for "torpedoing" the European Parliament's call for unconditional cease-fire in Gaza, saying the resolution passed by the European Parliament is not a call for a permanent cease-fire.
They termed the EU resolution, which was adopted by 312 votes in favor, 131 against and 72 abstentions on Thursday, "a green light for butchery to continue."
The original text underlined the need for a permanent cease-fire. It was adopted after an amendment insisting that Hamas needed to be dismantled for a cease-fire to happen. It also called for the immediate and unconditional release of all remaining hostages.
"Thanks to an amendment by the EPP, Fine Gael’s European Parliament group, the Parliament’s chance to finally stand up and call for a ceasefire has been shot down," said the statement.
"Far from being a call for a ceasefire, the text that was passed calls for an end to Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza on precisely the same preconditions that Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted on before a ceasefire takes place: the 'dismantling of Hamas' and the 'unconditional release of hostages.'"
Israel’s bombing campaign after a cross-border attack by Hamas killed more than 24,600 Palestinian civilians, including over 7,000 children, destroyed vast amounts of civilian infrastructure and displaced millions in Gaza.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, defying growing calls to stop its military campaign, argues the war will continue "until total victory," which, he says, is the dismantling of Hamas and release of all Israeli hostages taken during the Oct. 7 offensive.