Foreign Committee To Meet Over Gaza

Iceland’s Foreign Affairs Committee will meet to discuss the situation in Gaza, although the Foreign Minister has called it “pointless” to cut ties with Israel.

RÚV reports that Birgir Ármannsson, the chairperson of the Foreign Affairs Committee, will call together the committee to discuss the situation in Gaza.

“The events that we have been closely following are of course tragic, and they cause us a lot of worry,” he told reporters. “The news that is being reported, daily now, underlines the seriousness of the issue.”

The committee’s meeting is in response to a request from Left-Green MP Svandís Svavarsdóttir to reconvene over the issue. She would like to see pressure put on the United States for their support of the Israeli government’s attack on Gaza.

Meanwhile, Minister of Foreign Affairs Gunnar Bragi Sveinsson may be softening his position on the matter. Last week, he condemned the attacks on Gaza, calling upon the United Nations to use the “full force” of its authority. RÚV now reports the Foreign Minister believes it would be “pointless” for Iceland to break political ties with Israel.

“I think it sends the wrong message to isolate a particular nation, to not engage in talks with them about their methods,” he said. “Whether it’s Israel, Iran, Russia and now Ukraine. People should instead sit down, look each other in the eye and ask what’s going on, rather than close off a country. I don’t think that serves a purpose.”