Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Unfortunately, the US and Egypt are happy to see Hamas take a beating. On Monday, US Secretary of State John Kerry said the US was concerned about escalating tensions. On Tuesday he said, "I cannot condemn strongly enough the actions of Hamas". The Minister spoke about both sides behaving themselves. If France invaded Liechtenstein, killed 200 of its inhabitants while only one French person was killed, would we be asking them to behave and make up? No, we would be throwing anything we could at France. What is happening in Gaza is outrageous.

Everyone knows Hamas’s demands are not ridiculous. It wants the blockade ended, the re-release of 50 prisoners who were recently re-arrested in exchange for an Israeli soldier and the opening of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt. If the US continues to defend the indefensible, Israel will continue to behave abysmally. That is no reason why the Irish Government should behave abysmally. Let us call a spade a spade. We need to be seen as a neutral country.

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