Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

Both in the Tánaiste's statement and in the motion due to be taken tomorrow we are calling for a "humanitarian pause". Why are we calling for a humanitarian pause as opposed to an outright ceasefire? I know there was an exchange on the matter but I would like to get a better understanding of it. The Tánaiste asked Deputy Carthy if Israel has a right to pursue Hamas for the 7 October attacks. Let me be clear; I feel Israel has that right but I do not for a second believe that war crimes should be reciprocal in any way shape or form. If the Tánaiste believes, as I do, that Hamas should be held to account for its hideous violence of 7 October, does the Government believe that the Israeli Government should equally be held to account for the war crimes it is inflicting on the mass population of Gaza at the moment, with the withholding of water and removal of electricity, the collective punishment, the dropping of bomb after bomb which extends to about 8,000 at this point? Should Israel be held to account for telling one group of citizens to go from one place to another and then bombing them along the way? Does the Irish State believe that a form of ethnic cleansing is currently taking place in Gaza?