Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for her congratulations. The Government is gravely concerned about the escalating violence and the civilian casualties we are now witnessing on the ground in Gaza and Israel following Israel's launch of a major air offensive against Hamas targets in Gaza in response to the continued large-scale firing of rockets by Hamas and other Islamic militants into Israel. The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade issued a statement yesterday in which he condemned unreservedly the indiscriminate firing of rockets into Israel, which, as the Deputy said, poses a grave threat to the population. Equally, his statement condemned the mounting civilian casualties, including reportedly women and children, resulting from Israeli air strikes against Gaza. The latest estimates are that more than 70 Palestinians have been killed since the launch of the Israeli operation earlier this week.

Both the people of Gaza and the people of Israel have the right to live in peace and security without the threat of indiscriminate violence being visited upon them. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is closely monitoring the situation and is keeping in contact with our missions in Tel Aviv and Ramallah. It is recommended that Irish citizens who are currently in the region or travelling there register with the Department on its website. Those considering travelling should check the travel advice on the website which is updated regularly and Irish citizens in Israel or the occupied territories should exercise extreme caution and closely monitor developments via local media outlets.

It is vital that all efforts are now made to de-escalate the current situation and bring the current wave of violence and military action to an end. On behalf of the Government, I appeal to all sides to exercise the utmost restraint, avoid all civilian casualties and negotiate the earliest possible ceasefire. Obviously, the past four weeks following the deaths of the four young people have been extraordinarily difficult.

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