Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

We engage today for these statements in the context of the brutal events that are continuing in the Middle East and at a critical juncture for the European Union. The meeting of European Heads of Government at the European Council meeting on Thursday, which the Taoiseach will be attending, is undoubtedly a critical test for our European Union, which bills itself as a voice for peace and security and, indeed, as a transnational entity that is bound to uphold the rule of law and international humanitarian law. We have seen already this week a meeting on Monday of EU foreign affairs ministers at which it was not possible, it seems, to agree even on a call for a ceasefire. Instead, they settled only on a humanitarian pause for Gaza, which is simply not enough, as we know and as we have heard from UN workers on the ground in Gaza.

What we need to see is a unanimous call at the Council meetings on Thursday and Friday from European leaders for the release of Israeli hostages by Hamas but also for a humanitarian ceasefire, as the UN has sought and as the vast majority of this House, both Government and Opposition, called for in our cross-party motion last week. I thank the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste for engaging with us in the Opposition on the wording of that motion. It was really important we were able to send a united voice, insofar as possible, from this House in condemning Hamas and the appalling slaughter of civilians by Hamas on 7 October but also condemning the utterly brutal bombardment of the people of Gaza by Israel since then, which we understand has now led to the deaths of about 5,000 civilians. That purported response by Israel has been so clearly in breach of international law, in the collective punishment of 2 million civilians, the forced evacuation, the bombardment and besiegement, and the denial of vital supplies of food and water.

All these things amount to breaches of international law and of the rules of war. I know the Taoiseach has spoken out on that but we need to hear a united voice from the European Council this week speaking out on it. We need to hear that very clearly because, as the Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres, has said, there is a context to this and the context is the point at which the 2 million people of Gaza, even before 7 October, were already merely existing in what has often been described as an open-air prison, utterly dependent on UN aid supplies. Now we see those awful conditions for the people of Gaza worsened even further. Over recent years, the right-wing Netanyahu governments in Israel have become increasingly extreme, consciously dismantling, it seems, the prospect of a two-state solution, which many of us, including us in the Labour Party, hold to still. They have been consciously dismantling that prospect by subdividing the West Bank, encouraging illegal settlements and colonising East Jerusalem through the forced displacement of Palestinians. That far-right Government in Israel and the brutal government of Hamas in the Gaza Strip have, it seems, almost tilted the other to the extreme, trapped in a gruesome cycle of violence.

It is at this point, therefore, that we need to ensure the EU is speaking with one voice in calling out Israel for breaches of international law and in reviewing its trade relationship with Israel as it perpetrates genocidal actions in Gaza and sustains an apartheid regime in the West Bank. Indeed, we in the Labour Party have called on the Taoiseach to see the occupied territories Bill passed into law and to see further sanctions on Israel in recognition of what has been done to Palestinians for so long. We have stood for and called for the recognition of the state of Palestine and for the self-determination of the Palestinian people. We are very concerned to see the actions of Israel in apparently refusing to issue visas to UN staff in response to the comments of the Secretary General, António Guterres, who was merely stating the obvious. We do need to see, therefore, the European Council condemn Israeli actions in breaching international law while also, of course, condemning the brutality of Hamas. What we have seen instead, unfortunately, were the uncontrolled actions of an unelected Commission, with the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, going rogue.

She took on a plenipotentiary role, going way beyond her powers and mandate by apparently offering unconditional support for the actions of the Israeli Government. She thereby undermined the office of European Council President, Charles Michel, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, but also undermined the authority of the Council. She did not speak for Ireland, and she undermined the adherence to the treaties and rule of law that underpins the essence of the European Union. By contrast, President Higgins has spoken admirably on the context of the situation, and it is most unfortunate we have seen an intervention by the Israeli ambassador in Ireland, which is inappropriate in criticising the President. We all want to see relief for the people of Gaza, the immediate supply of aid and the immediate provision for a ceasefire. We urge the Taoiseach to make that call, in keeping with our cross-party motion, at the Council meeting this week.

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