President Higgins writes to fellow non-executive European Presidents calling for action on horrific situation in Gaza
Date: Mon 28th Jul, 2025 | 14:02
Uachtarán na hÉireann, President Michael D. Higgins has written to his fellow members of the Arraiolos Group of non-executive European Presidents to call for action on the horrific situation facing the people of Gaza.
The Arraiolos Group is an informal group of Presidents of European Union member states. Meeting once a year, the Arraiolos Group, named after the Portuguese town where the first meeting took place in 2003, provides a political forum for the Presidents of parliamentary republics in the EU to consider responses to the challenges facing their societies, and to promote the principles of multilateralism.
In his letter, President Higgins writes:
“My dear friends and colleagues in the Arraiolos Group,
I write to you with a deep sense of grief. Unacceptable violence continues to cause immeasurable suffering in Ukraine, Sudan and too many other parts of our shared world.
I am sure that we all remember with horror the moment when news broke of the horrific atrocities carried out by Hamas as we returned from our meeting of the Arraiolos Group in Porto in October 2023.
These atrocities were rightly condemned by all member states. We were not silent and called for the unconditional release of all hostages. While Israel has a right to defend itself, we cannot let that horrific event provide a licence or cover for the totally unacceptable loss of life, including from malnutrition and dehydration by infants and mothers that is now being perpetrated in Gaza.”
The President goes on to highlight that the entire population of Gaza is currently facing a crisis that includes ever worsening levels of acute food insecurity, with over 80% of cropland and 83% of agricultural wells having been destroyed.
It has been reported that over 1,000 Palestinians, mainly children, have been killed while seeking to collect aid since the commencement of the current violence. 20,000 mothers in Gaza are being subjected to conditions of dehydration and malnutrition with all the consequences to their own life and those of their children. UNICEF has reported that 6,500 children were admitted for treatment for acute malnutrition in June alone, with a further 5,000 admitted in the first two weeks of July; while a reported 80 children have already died of malnutrition.
It is further reported that at least 1,580 medical personnel have lost their lives, with a further 180 in Israeli detention centres.
The President quotes Pope Leo XIV’s condemnation of this assault on civilian life and his call on the international community to respond with the urgency these issues demand.
The President further highlights the three urgent steps called for by the Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres: an immediate ceasefire, the unconditional release of all hostages, and full, unimpeded humanitarian access.
In his letter, President Higgins urges that the UN and other humanitarian organisations must be allowed to do their work and commends those Foreign Ministers who have recently come together to call for an end to the violence and loss of life:
The President concludes his letter by calling on his fellow non-executive Presidents in the Arraiolos Group to add their voice to those calling for an end to the loss of life of civilians, the unconditional release of all hostages, and the provision of full unimpeded access to aid for those suffering:
“I also firmly believe that collectively, the Arraiolos Group has a strong voice and leadership role to offer in relation to what is happening in Gaza. Silence, failure to take an initiative will be rightly construed as a moral failure.
As a fellow member of the Group of Arraiolos and your colleague, I would respectfully ask the Group to consider adding its powerful voice to the international community calls for a halt to the avoidable loss of life of civilians in Gaza, the unconditional release of all hostages, and full-unimpeded humanitarian access to Gaza.
My dear colleagues, I look forward very much to hearing from you at this deeply distressing time.”
President Higgins has sent the letter to each of the members of the Arraiolos Group, which is comprised of the Presidents of the following countries: Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia and Slovenia.