Irish President Michael D. Higgins has said Gaza has “now become a crucible of suffering for children and their families — 45,000 dead, 17,000 of whom are children, and perhaps 11,000 under the rubble”, Al Jazeera reports.

Higgins, whose term will expire in 2025, made special mention of the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza and other war zones around the world in his final Christmas address yesterday evening.

He condemned global silence on the killing of civilians, saying: “The silence of many influential figures in the face of gross human rights violations against civilians grants impunity to those who blatantly impose collective punishments on civilians, including starvation, which, as I speak, particularly affects women and children.”