Ms Finola Finnan:

On the funding required, there is a flash appeal for Gaza, which is only 12% funded at the moment. It is a €1.2 billion fund, and the amount of funding that will be required to deal with the crisis is enormous. It is crucially important the funding goes to Palestinian and Israeli rights organisations as we move, we hope, at some stage beyond this crisis, and obviously while we are in the crisis.

With regard to the Irish Government, I understand the €13 million pledged by Ireland was €10 million for UNRWA and €3 million for OCHA. I understand that the €29 million is the funding going in 2023 to Palestine. The partners we fund are both funding the effort to deal with the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, but they have also been working in the West Bank. These are Israeli and Palestinian partners who are working towards a peaceful solution. It is critically important we allow those voices to be heard. There is no suggestion this funding is doing anything other than going to the purpose for which it was intended. There is good due diligence to ensure that. At European Union level there has been some suggestion that funding would be reduced. We would oppose that. This is a time when the needs are absolutely at an enormous scale and we need to fund that to the best of our abilities.

As NGOs we have also called for a number of issues in the Dáil, such as with the occupied territories Bill and the Illegal Israeli Settlements Divestment Bill 2023, and we will continue to do that. We think there should certainly be a human rights approach. People cannot live in a two-state solution if there are illegal settlements. They cannot live with any dignity if there is investment in settlement goods. That would be our position.