Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I agree with Deputy Bacik's broad comments, that those two statements should not be contradictory. It is very sad that in so many parts of the world, including in the US and in large parts of Europe, it is not possible to say what Deputy Bacik just said. Thankfully, in Ireland it is possible to say it. The Palestinian people do have the right to self-determination and to seek the establishment of their own state, their own homeland. However, that does not extend to attacking music festivals, taking hostages, or attacking children, the kind of things that Hamas has done which fundamentally undermine the cause of the Palestinian people and weaken their case for statehood. When it comes to Israel, what it is doing in Gaza is not acceptable either. It is not okay to cut off power supplies to the civilian population, it is not okay to cut off the water and it is not okay to target civilian infrastructure. We are all very clear on that in this House, across the different parties. It is a good thing we can, in Ireland, have at least that level of consensus on this issue.

In terms of what we can do, we are engaging with our partners at UN level. There was an emergency meeting of the EU foreign affairs ministers yesterday, which the Tánaiste participated in, and we are making a very strong case for restraint and de-escalation. We do not want to see this flare up in the West Bank, in Lebanon and in other places. That plays into the hands of Hezbollah, Iran and the extreme right in Israel. We want to make sure we do not see an escalation. We will also very strongly make the case for continuing to provide humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people, who are innocent victims in all of this.

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