Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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I thank the contributors. My questions are shadowed by the statement of the Israeli defence minister that Israel will not stop its military operation in Gaza until "complete quiet" has been achieved.

My first question is to the ambassador. Does he accept that much of the violence is motivated by the forced expulsions and the violence that has been seen at the Al-Aqsa Mosque? What does he expect to happen if Israel continues its policy - which has been in existence for decades - of removing people from land they have held? Does he accept that Israel is provoking the situation?

My second point relates to the rules of engagement for the potential invasion of Gaza as set out by Israel, and some of the conflict or recent days and weeks which has resulted in 69 deaths in Gaza. How does the ambassador distinguish between "shielding", which is a legalistic term that has implications, and urban warfare? In a densely populated zone such as Gaza where over 2 million people live, how does he distinguish between shielding, which he has used to justify and explain the deaths of innocent civilians and combatants, and urban warfare?

If a Hamas militant is in a building, would that building automatically be made a legitimate target in Gaza? Is the same standard applied to places where the IDF is in Israel?

My next question is to the former Minister for Defence, Mr. Shatter, and it concerns some of the rhetoric used by the current Israeli Minister of Defence, Mr. Benny Gantz, since his 2019 election campaign. He might be aware of his 2019 election campaign video, which highlighted his credentials as a wartime general and referred to the actions taken by Israel in Gaza in 2014, of which he was a lead component. His election video had a counter of the number of what he referred to as Hamas terrorists who died, which extended to 1,412. Even by the IDF's own count, many of those were unrecognised victims. Does Mr. Shatter believe that is an appropriate way for a minister of defence to behave or are such actions tantamount to provocation to inevitable war?

Ms Hausdorff referred to the 1967 Jordanian agreements and indicates the leaseholds held by the Palestinian residents being expelled from Sheikh Jarrah are only there since 1967. If those leaseholds mean they do not have territorial rights to the land, does the witness believe these people have the right to return to the land from which they were displaced before that period?