Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

An image popped up on my social media last night showing two boys in Rafah, their tiny bodies crushed under mountains of debris, the latest victims of Israel's atrocities in Gaza. The world will probably never know their names. We will not know how many siblings they had, what their favourite hobby was, what they wanted to be when they grew up, how scared they were for the past seven months, how many horrors they endured, how many friends and family members they watched die, how many times they and their families had been displaced before they ended up in Rafah desperately seeking safety before a missile strike on the building they were staying in ended their short lives. Those boys were just two of the more than 14,000 children who have been killed Gaza. Nearly 35,000 people have now been killed in Gaza, the vast majority civilians.

Israel is slaughtering people in their tens of thousands and still the world sits idly by. Entirely absent from implementing any sanctions or even the threat of sanctions has been the European Union. From the outset the EU has not just acquiesced to the carnage; it has been complicit. There has yet to be a joint statement from EU leaders in which Israel's barbarism is even mildly criticised. I acknowledge and welcome that Ireland and a minority of other EU member states have been calling for action. However, it is now three months since the former Taoiseach and the Spanish Prime Minister wrote to the European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, to request an urgent review of the EU-Israel trade deal. As far as we know, von der Leyen has not even bothered to reply to that letter, never mind review or suspend the deal.

The Social Democrats welcome plans to recognise the state of Palestine later this month. When will the EU live up to its professed values and act to stop a genocide? Has the European Commission ignored the Irish Government's request to review the EU-Israel trade deal? If so, what will the Government do about it? The next European Council meeting is not scheduled until the end of June. Will the Government call for an emergency European Council meeting and put sanctions against Israel firmly on the agenda? Will the Government enact the occupied territories Bill, which Fianna Fáil supported when it was in opposition?

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