Cathal Berry (Kildare South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for outlining the Irish State's position on the appalling ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in Palestine, and in particular in the Gaza Strip. I acknowledge the Minister's efforts in New York and his attempt to try to seek consensus and a Security Council resolution, and his work at European Union level in trying to shame it into a more proactive stance. I welcome the additional humanitarian aid the Minister announced this afternoon and the extra €1 million for UNRWA and the additional €500,000 for UNICEF on top of what had already been pledged.

I have spent long enough in the Middle East, and that region in particular, to know there are no angels on either side from a combatant point of view. It is clear from the casualty roll that the Israeli defence forces are operating in an indiscriminate, disproportionate and unacceptable manner. While all nations are entitled to self-defence this strays way beyond self-defence, particularly so because the iron dome missile interceptor system gives the Israeli defence forces a distinct and decisive advantage. A central tenet and principle of international humanitarian law is that the side with the greatest power bears the greatest responsibility when it comes to civilian casualties. There is a lot of extra work the Israeli defence forces needs to do from this point of view.

Uttering these things in an Irish Parliament outside of Israel does not make anybody anti-Semitic. If anything, this Parliament is pro-Semitic. It is pro-Israel, pro-Palestinian, pro-Palestine and pro-peace. We are good friends with the people in the Middle East. Good friends should be able to speak frankly and honestly with each other and tell them what they need to hear and not what they want to hear. I echo the call of the Minister for a ceasefire and guaranteed humanitarian access to Gaza. I urge the Minister to continue his diplomatic shuttle diplomacy between various capitals to try to seek a resolution.

I recognise getting a ceasefire will not be easy and that diplomacy is not easy either. As Victor Hugo once said, not being heard is no reason for silence, so keep up the work from this perspective. Getting a ceasefire from midnight tonight or midnight tomorrow night will not be easy. Perhaps we should consider a more interim phased approach before we get to a complete truce to allow the opportunity for a political process to kick in. Perhaps the Minister might wish to consider getting one side in particular, and we all know what side that is, to make a unilateral declaration of proportionality at least, and make a unilateral declaration that it will look after civilians to the greatest extent possible.

To the Israeli Embassy, which I have no doubt is listening to this exchange and debate, I ask that it convey the sentiment of the Irish Parliament, which is at least a consensus sentiment and perhaps a unanimous sentiment, back to the Prime Minister. Take it from a Parliament and a people who understand conflict, we know how to fight it and we know how to resolve it. I hope our views are taken with greater credibility from this point of view because of our history.

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