In December 2018, the Irish parliament’s upper house passed legislation stating that executives of companies who do business in Judea and Samaria and some areas of Jerusalem could face up to five years imprisonment.

On Sunday, Irish troops on a tour in Lebanon as US peacekeepers ran for cover for several hours as the IDF shelled the area they were stationed in. The shelling was a response to an anti-tank missile fire that was fired by the Iranian backed Hezbollah from an adjacent area reported the Irish Times.

Soldiers from the Irish Military sought cover in bunkers for approximately four hours in southern Lebanon when their area of observation came under artillery fire from the Israeli army.

The UN peacekeepers from the 450-strong 114th infantry battalion ran for cover after the IDF responded to Hezbollah fire in its area on Sunday afternoon.

The Irish troops responded to the codeword “Groundhog” ordering them to seek cover in bomb shelters and to put on helmets and body armor as the barrage from the Israeli military landed in their area.

This comes on the backdrop of a controversial bill that was submitted by Irish Senator Frances Black and crafted to impose a prison term of up to 5 years or a 250,000 euro fine on any Irish national who does business with any Israeli company with a location in Judea and Samaria.

The Ireland Israel Alliance, a prominent pro-Israeli lobby group opposing the bill,  accuses the bill’s backers of hypocrisy, citing their refusal to condemn analogous situations whereby Irish firms invest in international companies that do business in other occupied territories such as Russia’s occupation of Ukrainian Crimea and parts of Georgia and Moldova, Turkey’s occupation of Northern Cyprus and Morocco’s occupation of Western Sahara – none of which appear in the bill adding credibility to the argument that the bill is antisemitic and is singling out Israel.

The bill is now being studied by a joint committee of both houses of the Irish legislature.