Billy Timmins (Wicklow, Fine Gael)

Fine Gael supports the motion. The action was terrible and Fine Gael condemns it in the strongest manner. The killing of individuals seeking to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza was a deplorable act and we extend our sympathies to those families who have suffered bereavement, to the colleagues of the people murdered and to the wounded and their families.

The root cause of the issue is the treatment by Israel of the Palestinian people over a number of generations. Time and again, an explosive issue puts the focus on the problem, we wring our hands and we move on until the next deplorable act. Meanwhile, people are living under siege in Gaza. The treatment of the Palestinians is best manifested by what is occurring in Gaza. Those of us who have visited Gaza and seen what is going on there at first hand could not condone it by any manner or means. There is no justification for it.

Often, Israeli spokespersons roll out the issue of Hamas in Gaza to muddy the waters. The treatment of Palestinians in the West Bank is equally deplorable, in that a community is being strangled by a mechanism that involves road blocks, the construction of a wall and the development of settlements and the sole aim of which is to make the economic function of the Palestinians dysfunctional. The mechanism is succeeding.

Before we visited Gaza, we were briefed by members of the Kennesit. Knowingly or otherwise, what they told us was untrue. They spoke about the targeted attack on members of Hamas. We saw evidence of that when we went to Gaza, but we also saw the destruction of the industrial base of Gaza in the last days of Operation Cast Lead, as well as the destruction of its intellectual base with the blowing up of the American international school. It was clear that it was not a case of trying to take out terrorists, but trying to annihilate a race of people.

The main problem is the failure of the Israeli Government to make its security forces answerable to it. Historically, there seems to be a seamless division between Israeli Government policy and the actions of its military. The most important part of the Government's motion today is the inquiry. We want to know who decided on this course of action. Was it the Minister for Defence, Ehud Barak, who was Prime Minister during Operation Cast Lead? I understand that major military actions in Israel have to get the operational go ahead from the Minister for Defence.

The Turkish Government - probably the only Islamic friend that Israel has - requested the Israeli Government to let the MV Mavi Marmara through to Gaza. The Turkish Government did not expect people on that boat to respond in the way that they may have done when Israeli troops landed on it. When the Israeli troops landed on the ship, I am sure they did not expect to respond in the manner that they did. I am not exonerating them from blame. While the incident was horrific and has to be condemned, the core issue is in respect of the actions beforehand by the Israeli Government and its response to what actually happened. If the Israeli Government stated that this was an operation that went tragically wrong, apologised and sought to mend its ways, we would not have the outcry that has occurred across the globe.

We want to see the release of the Irish citizens, as outlined by the Minister and Deputy Kenny. We also want to see the MV Rachel Corrie allowed to offload its supplies in Gaza. If there was no blockade in Gaza, then we would not have this difficulty. This talk about letting supplies into Gaza is completely untrue. Not even the very minimum requirements get through to Gaza. Israeli policy is cultivating difficulty with itself in the future and it is also feeding those terrorist groups on the ground who control the economic daily life of what is happening in Gaza.

Deputy Kenny has outlined our policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which is to work for a two-state solution, a return to the pre-1967 borders, a recognition of the rights of the refugees of 1948 and 1967, a cessation of the rocket attacks, the free movement of people in Gaza and a deconstruction of the settlements that have been built since March 2001. I believe that the policy of every political party across the country and across the EU is the same, yet there seems to be so much division. The difficulty is with what we can do about it. America is hamstrung due to its historical ties to Israel, so we cannot take our moral leadership from that country. Germany is one of the main drivers of European policy in the EU but its "hands off" approach to Israel creates a difficulty for the EU.

What measures can we take as a small country? If we are relying on Europe or America to make our decisions for us, then we will not succeed because the US and the EU wash their hands and move on from what they see as an intractable problem. The new President of the US has sought to do something about this but he has received very little support from his colleagues in Congress. I do not know if he will be able to do anything. We are dealing with an Israeli Government that is more conservative and hard line than any in recent Israeli history.

We can do three things. We can consider withdrawing the Irish ambassador from Tel Aviv and expelling the Israeli ambassador. We can also seek to restrict trade agreements. We have condemned time and again, but the time may be slowly approaching where we have got to look at taking one of these actions if Israel does not change its approach. We cannot be present in this Chamber next year or in 20 years' time talking about the plight of the Palestinians. If the approach of Israel does not change, we have to examine the idea of carrying out some action. What is morally right might then supersede economic self-interest because it is very difficult to stand by and do nothing when we see the plight of Palestinian children.

Terrorist groups such as Hamas and associated groups must mend their ways and recognise the right of Israel to exist. Peaceful co-existance will only happen if we have direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians. The Israeli approach has left the PLO out on a limb and undermined its authority over the last few years. The PLO was the voice of reason for the Palestinians. The Israelis did not assist them, and Hamas grew as a result. Something more terrible than Hamas will soon grow if Israel does not mend its ways.

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