Jim Walsh (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the ambassador and join others in offering my condolences on the loss of innocent life in Gaza and the West Bank in recent months. Is the new found co-operation between Fatah and Hamas sustainable, given that an election is due next year? I welcome that co-operation because unless the Palestinians are united, they will find it very hard to reach an agreement that is sustainable. I also think that the Israelis should welcome it too. Are there any talks taking place within that framework to get Hamas to disarm? Can the ambassador explain why Hamas would bomb Israel, knowing the brutal retaliation that would ensue from that?

The ambassador spoke about the international community failing to respond effectively and I concur with that point and do not dispute it in any way. However, given international law, UN resolutions and agreements which have been entered into with Israel, all of which have been ignored, what does the ambassador want the international community to do? Obviously calling on the Israeli Government to respect international law is ineffective. I would like the ambassador to comment specifically on the conversations concerning the banning of settlement goods. Have we gone past that now? Should the international community be looking at imposing a complete ban on Israeli goods so that pressure is brought to bear to kick-start the negotiations?

Third, the ambassador spoke about the cutting off of vital supplies like water and electricity. I ask him to give us a brief indication of the manner in which housing, sanitation and health services have been affected from a humanitarian perspective. I would like to mention the issue of child prisoners in this context. I recently saw a report indicating that over 8,000 Palestinian children have been detained by Israeli authorities. I was very concerned to read in the report that Israeli soldiers and ISA officers have used sexual threats and have sexually abused children they have detained. Can the ambassador comment on that and on the threats of rape and sodomy that have been made against women? These are significant human rights issues. Women are systematically stripped, body searches are done on them and they are often threatened with rape. These serious issues do not seem to get the amplification in the international media that I would have thought crimes of that nature would merit. There needs to be a focus on them so they can be eradicated.