Eileen Flynn (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Over the past few weeks, I have been questioning where humanity is in the world. Over 28,000 Palestinian people have been killed in Gaza in recent weeks and more than 11,500 of those were children. More than 17,000 Palestinian children are left by themselves. Every single night since 7 October, when I am at home with my two little girls, hugging them and putting them into bed, I have thought of the mothers in Gaza, Palestine, who are tucking their children into bed and trying to comfort them. We have to bring this back to the question of human life, to what is going on right in front of our eyes and to this genocide.

The images we have been seeing lately have been very tough to watch. UNICEF officials speak of a young girl of 11 who was with her family in her uncle's house when it was bombed. She lost her mother, father, brother and two sisters, who were killed.She was left badly injured and had to have her leg amputated. This is an 11-year-old child now living in Rafah, which will be Israel's next target. If more than 28,000 Europeans had been killed in recent weeks, including more than 11,000 children, would the global response be so slow? I think we all know the answer to that question.

As has been said by colleagues in the House, I do not have the words. We have to move beyond words. It is a step in the right direction to support Senator Black and the Civil Engagement Group motion. I thank Senator Black. In her previous term in the Seanad, she also worked hard for people in Palestine. Until Palestinian people are free, none of us is really free.

I will end with Palestinian poet and professor Dr. Refaat Alareer, who was killed in an Israeli air strike in December:

If I must die

That is from Dr. Refaat, who was killed in December. Let all of the 30,000 plus people killed in Gaza have died for something, for changing the world and making it a better place. I thank the Minister of State for his part in the cross-party support this evening.