Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The most important point is that Ireland has not lost its moral compass on this issue. I think we should agree on that in this House. The situation in Gaza is absolutely catastrophic. I agree with Josep Borrell, the EU vice president and head of European foreign policy, when he said people should stop sending arms if they want an end to the conflict. Other countries should stop sending arms in order to bring an end to this conflict. I know that many countries are trying to bring an end to the conflict. I have no doubt that many in the US want this to end but Israel is reckless with its own allies and is it is reckless with the region. Above all it is reckless with the lives of ordinary Gazans. It is absolutely reckless in allowing what is happening to happen on a daily basis. We are witnessing a complete collapse of societal cohesion within Gaza. We saw the shocking scenes last week when 100 people were killed and clearly many were hit by bullets fired by Israeli forces. There should be an international investigation into that. That represented the collapse of any order in the area in terms of facilitating the distribution of aid. Gazan police were targeted by Israeli forces when they were helping UN agencies to distribute food.

When I spoke to Sigrid Kaag, the UN envoy to the Middle East and to Gaza in particular, she said that without question we are in the midst of a collapse. The people in Gaza are absolutely desperate. Their situation is dire. Children are suffering malnutrition. Our priority has been an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. We have worked with the Palestinian Authority, the Saudi Arabian foreign minister, Jordanians, Egyptians and others. Last week, I sent officials to Jordan to work with them on the Arab peace plan which should emerge imminently. They are liaising with the US and the European Union. That peace plan is essential in securing any ceasefire that might happen over the coming days. We hope it does because that has to happen. There then needs to be unimpeded access to aid. Israel has responsibilities under international humanitarian law to protect the civilians in Gaza.

Israel is not fulfilling that obligation as an occupying power in any shape or form. It is contributing to the deaths in the bombardment of Gaza but also in the starvation of the people of Gaza. I welcome the fact that the European Commission has now reversed its pause and has allocated and restarted the funding of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, UNRWA. I believe we showed leadership and action with regard to UNRWA and we were the first and only country to say that there should be no pause to aid for UNRWA despite what happened, and despite what any other countries had done. We followed that up quickly by meeting with Philippe Lazzarini and allocating €20 million upfront. These actions are cause and effect.

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