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

Ireland condemns the attack by Hamas and other militant groups on Israel and the devastating loss of life that it has caused. Attacks on civilians and the taking of hostages is always wrong.

Israel's right to defend itself, indeed its obligation to defend itself, must be exercised within the parameters of international humanitarian law. All parties in all conflicts must abide by international humanitarian law. Its aim is to protect civilians everywhere. It applies in all conflicts, in all circumstances and to state and non-state actors alike. The situation in Gaza is now critical. It is a deepening humanitarian crisis. The high number of civilian casualties, particularly children, is deeply shocking. The protection of civilians and de-escalation must be the priority, which is why Ireland has called for a humanitarian ceasefire to allow hostages to be released, to allow foreign passport holders to leave, and to allow humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip. We are engaging with the European Union, the United Nations and our regional partners to try to achieve this and in all cases we are calling for a de-escalation.

Regarding trade deals such as the EU trade agreement with Israel, as well as the Horizon programme, these matters are European competences on which Ireland cannot and should not act alone. These are issues we have to discuss at European level and can only possibly be agreed at European level. The truth is that there is a very significant divergence of opinion within the European Union. While we were able to agree on a common statement in Brussels last week, and we all stand by that, the truth is that there are very different views. Very different members states come from very different perspectives on this and that needs to be understood. Germany, Austria, and the Czech Republic are coming from a particular perspective. Other countries that have experienced serious terrorist attacks at the hands of other Islamic resistance movements also have a particular perspective on this, and we have a particular perspective on it. It is a good thing that we are a member of the European Union for so many different reasons, because we have a seat at the table. We do have a say when decisions are being made. The position we are at, however, at a European level now is nowhere near taking actions of that nature against Israel. What we are trying to do is to use our seat at the EU table to recentre and rebalance the EU's position and to particularly bring the EU to a position where we are calling for a humanitarian ceasefire in order that the hostages can be released, foreign passport holders can get out, the killing stops and humanitarian aid can get in.

See this speech in context