Averil Power (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The international community stands disgraced for not backing up our condemnation of Israel's illegal occupation of Palestine with real action and we stand disgraced for expressing full surprise and horror as Israel attacks Gaza for the third time in five years. The experience of the last 47 years has shown us that condemnation of Israel is not enough. Ireland, the EU and the UN must take real action. For a start, we must use our economic power to force Israel to stop its current attack on Gaza and end the occupation of Palestine. The EU must immediately suspend its trade agreements with Israel and impose economic sanctions. It should also ban outright the importation of goods from the illegal Israeli settlements. It is simply not good enough to condemn the ever-expanding settlements while tacitly supporting them by buying goods produced there. It is time to put our money where our mouth is. If Europe as a whole is not prepared to do this, Ireland should step up and show leadership by doing it ourselves.

We must also insist on proper international monitoring of any ceasefire agreement. Hamas complied with the 2012 agreement until last month but Israel did not, refusing to lift its blockade on Gaza. An international force must also be put in place along the border between Israel and Gaza to monitor the ceasefire and investigate alleged breaches of it, and an international body must be given the task of monitoring the lifting of the siege. As Christian Aid has pointed out, both sides must also be held to account for their violations of international law so that a message goes out that no party to any conflict can target civilians with impunity. In the medium term we must also ensure that UNICEF and other aid organisations have the money they need to respond to the current humanitarian crisis in Gaza and help to rebuild homes, schools and vital infrastructure. Aid for Palestine is not enough. Only a proper long-term solution will provide all Palestinians and all Israelis with the peace and security they deserve.

I regret I have only five minutes as I would like to speak about the situations in Iraq, Syria and Ukraine but I will push those issues when we return in September.