Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

We are now witnessing the worst unrest in years. It is escalating further with the Israeli Prime Minister threatening ongoing and deepening air raids in Gaza and scores of rockets been now been launched by Hamas on Jerusalem itself, both shocking and appalling actions.

There is a root cause, however. I listened to the Israeli ambassador to Britain last night being unable to say that her government is in favour of a two-state solution. We need to get back to the root cause, which is the respect of fundamental rights for Palestinians, that the rule of law applies internationally and that people with legitimate tenancy and rights of tenure are allowed to live where they have lived for decades and not be faced with forced evictions. We now need a concerted effort by Ireland leading in the UN to resolve these matters.

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