Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

Deputies will be aware from my earlier remarks that uppermost in my thoughts now is the progress of the ship that sailed from Ireland, the Rachel Corrie, on which a number of Irish citizens are continuing towards Gaza. It is thought that she might be approaching Gazan waters in the next number of days. I asked Ambassador Evrony to convey to the Israeli Government my request that, following the tragedy which has occurred, the Rachel Corrie be allowed to continue unimpeded and to deliver its cargo to Gaza. I have just spoken in the past hour with the former UN senior official, Denis Halliday, who is one of the Irish citizens aboard the Rachel Corrie. We will be watching this issue very closely - as will the world - and it is imperative that Israel avoid any action which leads to further bloodshed.

I have focused on the position of Irish citizens and on the immediate events but I am also deeply conscious of the wider context. I find that issues I have been raising since the Gaza war last year have come to the fore again. Israel must be brought to understand that military force is genuinely a last resort, not to be used to if any other method is available.

It has been said in Israel that, when one has a hammer, every problem tends to look like a nail. Israel has a right to exist and to defend itself, as we would all accept, but that right does not override and supersede all other rights and the rights of all others. As we saw in Gaza, so now we see in respect of an effort to help Gaza. When one resorts to the powerful use of force, especially among civilians, terrible disasters such as this are not unexpected or unforeseeable - they are highly likely, sooner or later, usually sooner.

In international dialogue, I have been stressing a central issue, namely, the continuing blockade of Gaza cannot be accepted as part of the status quo and allowed to continue indefinitely. As the Taoiseach stated yesterday, public opinion in Ireland and elsewhere has shown that it will not accept this collective punishment of innocent people and will act to challenge it.

From my visit to Gaza earlier this year, I know that what exists there is a dire and indisputable humanitarian crisis, with most of the population living in inhumane and intolerable conditions and with an increasing incidence of what the UN euphemistically calls absolute poverty. The situation amounts to collective punishment of the population of Gaza and, as the EU acknowledged yesterday, is completely counterproductive. As long as the siege of Gaza continues, it will inflict further injustice on the people who live there without contributing at all to the security of Israel.

We are still gathering the basic facts of what occurred. There is much more I could say, particularly on the broader context. I will be following events closely and considering what further action we need to take nationally or at EU or UN level. Debates are ongoing as we speak in Brussels and at the Human Rights Council in Geneva. The Security Council in New York has already called in a presidential statement for an "impartial, credible and transparent investigation, conforming to international standards" of what has happened, a call that I fully support and echo.

The week before last, I reported to the House that I would soon be deciding what action to take on the issue of the use of forged Irish passports in the assassination of Mr. Mabhouh in Dubai. I am anxious that this important matter be given the attention and focus it merits and that it not become mixed up with the events we are now discussing. It remains my intention to propose to the Government shortly the action I believe appropriate in this case.

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