Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The attacks that have been taking place in recent days are extremely worrying. I reiterate that rocket attacks from Gaza into Israel must also stop. Israel is entitled to security for its people. Attacks of a terrorist nature from Gaza must stop, as must the attacks by Israel on Gaza. Just before I came into the Chamber to take questions, I received a preliminary report of a rocket attack by Israel on Gaza in which a senior figure in Hamas is alleged to have been killed. I have only just received this information and have not had an opportunity to get a more up-to-date report. All of this is extremely worrying.

In May the European Union issued its strongest statement to date about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, particularly in regard to the settlements. We must bear in mind that there are divergent views among the 27 member states on this issue, as was seen in the UNESCO vote last year when the European Union divided evenly three ways: nine for, nine against and nine abstentions. Securing agreement on that statement was therefore significant, and we can build on that. The European Union has a key role to play.

I have made it clear that Ireland is positively disposed towards Palestine's non-member observer status at the United Nations, but obviously we must look at the detail of the resolution and work on this. There is an opportunity in the aftermath of the American presidential election for a renewed effort to get serious peace negotiations under way.

See this speech in context