Tánaiste to visit refugee camp during Middle East visit

Tánaiste Micheál Martin is due to visit a Palestinian refugee camp run by UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian affairs, as part of his visit to the Middle East.

Mr Martin will also meet the Jordanian foreign minister for talks later this morning, and have a private meeting with King Abdullah of Jordan this afternoon.

The Tánaiste will visit the Talbieh Camp in Jordan, one of six emergency refugee camps set up by the United Nations to house some 5,000 Palestinians fleeing the West Bank and Gaza during the 1967 Six-Day War.

The visit will, in part, be a show of support to UNRWA, the agency which has been at the centre of an ongoing dispute between the United Nations and the Israeli government over allegations that 12 UNRWA staff in Gaza participated in the Hamas attacks of 7 October.

Read more: Orders for new evacuations as strikes in Gaza intensify

The Irish delegation will be given a tour of an UNRWA-run school and a medical clinic before travelling on to the Jordanian foreign ministry, where Mr Martin will meet the deputy prime minister and minister for foreign affairs Ayman Safadi.

The two are expected to discuss the Arab Peace Plan which has become synonymous with the timing of when Ireland and a handful of other EU member states will jointly recognise the State of Palestine.

Mr Martin will conclude his visit with a private meeting with King Abdullah of Jordan.