Republic of Ireland vs Israel boils over as Everton star Jake O'Brien involved in latest team meetings

There is a sense of the unknown around the Republic of Ireland's upcoming scheduled game against Israel on Sunday.

Everton defender Jake O'Brien is in the Irish squad, but things are starting to boil over on Saturday.

The FAI submitted a motion to ban Israel from UEFA's club and international competitions last November, as the Palestine conflict continues.

Within that, the reasons stated were two alleged violations.

One were the Israeli FA allegedly organising clubs in occupied Palestinian territories without their consent, and a supposed failure to enforce an effecitve anti-racism policy.

Now, as O'Brien and Ireland arrive in Hungary to take on Israel in the Nations League, doubts have emerged whether the game goes ahead.

Will Ireland vs Israel go ahead?

An independent UN commission concluded that a genocide continues to take place against Palestinians in Gaza, via RTE.

That led to Heimir Hallgrímsson recently saying, "We're not playing with genocide, we're playing against genocide."

While O'Brien has not publically spoken to the media about it, more information is coming out of the Irish camp on Saturday.

Daniel McDonnell has reported that Gavin Bazunu has decided he doesn't want to play, with others in the squad considering that action, too.

That was expressed in a team meeting on Friday, while training has been delayed 24 hours before the fixture.

The Israeli FA are said to be furious with the attitude towards their players and the fixture as a whole, but there is a much wider picture around this that makes that irrelevent.

Everton have to be there for support

David Moyes and Everton need to give all of their support to O'Brien, with this situation simply unthinkable.

While many in the squad have spoken out about the game, it's hard to picture what happens if it doesn't go ahead.

Jason Knight recently admitted that he believes the game shouldn't go ahead, and that will be likely shared around the dressing room.

With one player in Bazunu dropping out, there is certainly more to come before Sunday in Hungary.

The general feeling around Israel continuning to be featured in UEFA competitions is shared around the world.

At this stage, it would be a surprise to see this game go ahead.