Staff and students at University College Cork (UCC) are to stage a protest during a visit by European Union commissioners on Thursday over what they describe as EU inaction on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.The EU College of Commissioners are due to visit UCC as part of Ireland’s presidency of the European Union. Gardaí have put an extensive series of security measures in place, but UCC staff and students are to mount a protest on one of the main approaches to the university.It is being organised by a number of Palestine solidarity groups including UCC Staff Together for Palestine, UCC BDS (Boycott, Divestments and Sanctions) group and others from across the university, which has 3,700 staff and about 26,000 students.Organisers said the demonstration, which will take place outside the UCC main gates on Donovan’s Road from midday until 2pm, is intended to send a clear message to the European Union to do more to uphold international law and protect civilians in Gaza and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.There was growing concern over the humanitarian situation in Gaza following findings by the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory that Israel has committed genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes against Palestinians, they said.UCC Staff Together for Palestine spokesman Ciarán Dawson said the protest was also designed to highlight the destruction by Israeli forces of Gaza’s education system through attacks on schools, universities, libraries and archives.“As staff and students, we cannot remain silent while an entire education system and population is being destroyed. Universities should be places that uphold human rights, academic freedom and international law,” he said. “The destruction of schools, universities and the killing of thousands of students and educational personnel is an attack on Palestine’s future. We are gathering peacefully to call on the EU to uphold the principles it says it stands for and to take meaningful action to protect Palestinian lives.” Dawson said Unesco had reported that approximately 97 per cent of Gaza’s schools have been damaged since 2023, leaving hundreds of thousands of children without access to education. At least 15,811 students and 703 education staff have been killed in Gaza since 2023, he said. “A year after an official review by the European External Action Service found significant evidence that Israel breached its human rights obligations under the EU-Israel Association Agreement, we stand here today to demand the EU support accountability for violations of international law.”Dawson said the European Union should terminate the EU-Israel agreement and he urged members of the public, who wish to stand in solidarity with the people of Gaza, to join the protest and call for accountability under international law. The demonstration will also feature the Craftivism Blanket for Palestine, a community artwork created by hundreds of people in Ireland and beyond to express solidarity with Palestinians with each of the 3,000 squares representing 10 Palestinian children killed over the past two years.