Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

I empathise with the Deputy's views, but we make our stance, and continue to do so, within EU meetings and that is where we articulate our position. On the Hamas question, there cannot be an overall political settlement which does not include Gaza. It is, therefore, logical that Hamas must be involved at some point. However, the EU is not ready to negotiate with Hamas until it recognises Israel's legitimate right to exist and renounces the use of violence as a political tactic. There are responsibilities on all sides.

We believe the key enabler in this area is the Egyptian process of developing reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas. We support the Egyptian initiative in this regard. That initiative is an important prelude to any overall settlement.

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