Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour) | Oireachtas source

On the pressing issue of Gaza, I draw the Deputy's attention to the statement issued by the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade on Monday in which he condemned unreservedly the indiscriminate firing of rockets into Israel, which are largely aimed at civilian targets. His statement equally condemned the mounting civilian casualties, including a large number of women and children, resulting from Israeli air strikes against Gaza. This followed and reinforced a statement made last week by the former Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Eamon Gilmore. I and most Deputies will have heard of further deaths in Gaza in recent hours.

The people of Gaza and Israel have the right to live in peace and security without the threat of indiscriminate violence being visited upon them. The dreadful episode yesterday in which four Palestinian children were killed by an Israeli shell at the Gaza port underlines the absolute urgency of bringing the exchange of fire to an end for the sake of both communities. Regrettably, a serious effort to reach a ceasefire on Tuesday, which was proposed by Egypt, did not take hold, although it is positive that Israel ceased firing for six hours. Today, there has been a five-hour humanitarian pause at the request of the United Nations to allow people to buy food and engage in necessary activities and movement. This is a hopeful development and it may be possible to build on it to achieve something more lasting.

As I stated last week, the Department of Foreign Affairs is closely monitoring developments and maintains contact with our missions in Tel Aviv and Ramallah. Last week, I also advised Irish citizens in the area to keep in contact with Irish embassies in the region.

The weeks following the recent horrendous murders of four young people have been incredibly difficult for all of those who are concerned with promoting the cause of peace in the Middle East. Despite this, we cannot be deflected from addressing the underlying causes of the conflict and redoubling our efforts to promote a viable two-state solution, the only sustainable basis for a just settlement and resolution of the Israeli-Arab conflict.

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