Ireland’s Foreign Minister Micheál Martin has called the situation in Gaza “inhumane and unacceptable” after a visit to the region.

Mr Martin, who is the first European Union foreign minister to visit the Gaza Strip in over a year, has called on the EU to put pressure on Israel to end its blockade of Gaza.

Writing in the International Herald Tribune, Mr Martin said: “The tragedy of Gaza is that it is fast in danger of becoming a tolerated humanitarian crisis.”

Mr Martin, who entered the region via the Rafah border crossing, was shown around UN sites and visited a girls’ school. He did not meet any members of Hamas.