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Israeli Foreign Minister Brands Irish PM ‘Antisemitic’

Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar attends the 31st Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Ministerial Council in Ta'Qali, Malta, December 5, 2024. (Reuters)
Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar attends the 31st Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Ministerial Council in Ta'Qali, Malta, December 5, 2024. (Reuters)
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Israeli Foreign Minister Brands Irish PM ‘Antisemitic’

Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar attends the 31st Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Ministerial Council in Ta'Qali, Malta, December 5, 2024. (Reuters)
Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar attends the 31st Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Ministerial Council in Ta'Qali, Malta, December 5, 2024. (Reuters)

Israel's foreign minister accused Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris on Monday of antisemitism as he defended Israel's decision to close its embassy in Dublin over Ireland's policies.

"There is a difference between criticism - and antisemitism based on the delegitimization and dehumanization of Israel and double standards towards Israel," Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said in a statement.

He cited Ireland's support for what he called "politicized" proceedings against Israeli leaders by the International Criminal Court as well as Irish support for an action at the International Court of Justice accusing Israel of genocide over its campaign in Gaza.

"Last night Ireland's antisemitic Prime Minister Simon Harris said in an interview 'Ireland is not anti-Israel but Ireland is absolutely anti the starvation of children'," Saar said. "Is Israel starving children?"

He said Israel was working to enable humanitarian aid to reach Gaza and prevent civilian casualties while he said Hamas was looting aid and using civilians as human shields.

The decision to close the Israeli embassy in Dublin has highlighted Israel's increasing international isolation over the Gaza war, triggered by the Oct. 7, 2023, assault on Israeli communities around the Gaza Strip by Hamas-led gunmen.

Harris has rejected Israel's criticism, called the decision to close the embassy deeply regrettable and said Ireland would always stand up for human rights and international law.

Some 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals, were killed in the attack and more than 250 abducted as hostages into Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel's campaign in response has killed more than 45,000 Palestinians, according to Palestinian health authorities, displaced most of the 2.3 million population and destroyed large swathes of the enclave.

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Large Earthquake Hits Battered Vanuatu

A vehicle is trapped beneath a collapsed building following a strong earthquake in Port Vila, Vanuatu, December 17, 2024, in this screengrab taken from a social media video. Jeremy Ellison/via Reuters
A vehicle is trapped beneath a collapsed building following a strong earthquake in Port Vila, Vanuatu, December 17, 2024, in this screengrab taken from a social media video. Jeremy Ellison/via Reuters
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Large Earthquake Hits Battered Vanuatu

A vehicle is trapped beneath a collapsed building following a strong earthquake in Port Vila, Vanuatu, December 17, 2024, in this screengrab taken from a social media video. Jeremy Ellison/via Reuters
A vehicle is trapped beneath a collapsed building following a strong earthquake in Port Vila, Vanuatu, December 17, 2024, in this screengrab taken from a social media video. Jeremy Ellison/via Reuters

A magnitude-6.1 earthquake rattled buildings on Vanuatu's main island early Sunday but did not appear to have caused major damage, five days after a more powerful quake wreaked havoc and killed 12 people.

The nation's most populous island, Efate, is still reeling from the deadly 7.3-magnitude temblor on Tuesday, which toppled concrete buildings and set off landslides in and around the capital of Port Vila.

The latest quake occurred at a depth of 40 kilometers (25 miles) and was located some 30 kilometers west of the capital, which has been shaken by a string of aftershocks.

No tsunami alerts were triggered when the temblor struck at 2:30 am Sunday (1530 GMT Saturday).

Port Vila businessman Michael Thompson told AFP the quake woke his family.

"It gave a better bit of a shake and the windows rattled a little bit, it would have caused houses to rattle," he said.

"But you know, no movement other than a few inches either way, really. Whereas the main quake, you would have had like a meter and a half movement of the property very, very rapidly and suddenly.

"I'd describe this one as one of the bigger aftershocks, and we've had a fair few of them now."

Thompson said there was no sign of further damage in his immediate vicinity.

The death toll remained at 12, according to government figures relayed late Saturday by the United Nations' humanitarian affairs office.

It said 210 injuries had been registered while 1,698 people have been temporarily displaced, citing Vanuatu disaster management officials.

Mobile networks remained knocked out, making outside contact with Vanuatu difficult and complicating aid efforts.

In addition to disrupting communications, the first quake damaged water supplies and halted operations at the capital's main shipping port.

The South Pacific nation declared a seven-day state of emergency and a night curfew following the first quake.

It announced Saturday it would lift a suspension on commercial flights in an effort to restart its vital tourism industry.

The first were scheduled to arrive on Sunday.

Rescuers Friday said they had expanded their search for trapped survivors to "numerous places of collapse" beyond the capital.

- Still searching -

Australia and New Zealand this week dispatched more than 100 personnel, along with rescue gear, dogs and aid supplies, to help hunt for trapped survivors and make emergency repairs.

There were "several major collapse sites where buildings are fully pancaked", Australia's rescue team leader Douglas May said in a video update on Friday.

"We're now starting to spread out to see whether there's further people trapped and further damage. And we've found numerous places of collapse east and west out of the city."

Thompson said power had been restored to his home on Saturday but said many others were still waiting.

"We're hearing a lot of the major businesses are still down, supermarkets are trying to open back up," he said.

"So this is very different to what's happened with disasters here in the past.

"Cyclones destroy everything outside, whereas earthquakes really destroy a lot of infrastructure inside the buildings."

Vanuatu, an archipelago of some 320,000 inhabitants, sits in the Pacific's quake-prone Ring of Fire.

Tourism accounts for about a third of the country's economy, according to the Australia-Pacific Islands Business Council.