Michelle O'Neill, the newly elected First Minister of Northern Ireland, said Thursday that the terrorist organization Hamas will eventually be considered the “future partner for peace” in the Middle East.
In an interview on Tonight with Andrew Marr on British broadcaster LBC, O'Neill highlighted the importance of communication, comparing the current war between Israel and Hamas to the ongoing peace talks within Northern Ireland.
In the interview, Marr asked if the terrorist organization Hamas would “eventually” be considered a “partner for peace.”
“A long time ago the [Irish Republican Army] The IRA was seen as a terrorist organization. The British government and everyone else was never able to talk to them,” Marr said. “Do you think that Hamas, although considered a terrorist organization by many people around the world, will eventually have to be a partner for peace?”
ISRAELI MILITARY KILLS HAMAS TERRORISTS AND FINDS 'SIGNIFICANT' ARMS AND ASSETS INSIDE UNRWA HEADQUARTERS
Northern Ireland's First Minister Michelle O'Neill (L) is interviewed after a press conference at the Foreign Press Association on February 8, 2024 in London, England. (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
“Yes,” said O'Neill, “I think you only have to look at our own example to know how important dialogue is and that it is the only way to end conflict.”
“If the republicans did not talk to the British government or the British government did not talk to the republicans, in the past in Ireland we would not be in the scenario we are in today, enjoying a peaceful and much more equal society.” “continued Northern Ireland's first nationalist Prime Minister.
The IDF claimed to have found documents, videos and photographs of Palestinian children used by Hamas' Islamic Jihad as trained fighters. (IDF Spokesperson Unit)
He also called for an immediate ceasefire and the application of international law in Gaza.
“And I really just hope that in the coming days and weeks we can get to a point where we see a ceasefire in the first instance, that we have a dialogue and that we get to the final position of the Palestinian state being recognized and a solution of two states that the international community defends,” O'Neill said.
THE PRESIDENT OF HUNGARY RESIGNS AFTER THE REJECTION OF PARDON IN CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE CASE
O'Neill argued that Israel was bombing the Palestinian people and not defending itself against Hamas terrorists.
“Anyone can stretch Israel's position from being defensive because this is a bombing, day after day, a massacre of the Palestinian people,” O'Neill continued.
First Minister Michelle O'Neill during a press conference at Stormont Castle, Belfast, following the restoration of the power-sharing executive. (Oliver McVeigh/PA Images via Getty Images)
“This has to stop, and we need the international community to stand firm and stand firm in the court of international law. That's where everyone needs to be,” he said.
“And I really just hope that in the coming days and weeks we can get to a point where we see a ceasefire in the first instance, that we have a dialogue and that we get to the final position of the Palestinian state being recognized and a solution of two States that the international community defends.'
Thomas Hand, foreground, and Michael Levy look at posters of Israelis taken hostage by Hamas hanging on a fence on East 55th Street in New York City. Hand's daughter, Emily, 8, and Levy's brother, Or, are among 240 Israelis held captive in Gaza. (Sydney Borchers/Fox News Digital)
O'Neill also condemned the unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel, saying they had violated international law by taking hostages.
CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
“From day one, we have said that what happened on October 7 was wrong, and that does not apply in international law in any way; the hostage taking was wrong,” he said.
