Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The straight answer to the Deputy's question is that I have asked my political director to make contact with the Israeli ambassador and his team in respect of this killing. I was deeply concerned to learn of the death of a seven-year-old boy, Rayyan Suleiman, during Israel Defence Forces operations in the occupied West Bank last Thursday, 29 September. I extend my deepest sympathies to his family.

I echo the comments of the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Mr. Tor Wennesland, in which he called on the Israeli authorities to conduct an immediate and thorough investigation into Rayyan’s death. Children continue to endure the worst of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Of the 49 Palestinians killed during the hostilities in and around Gaza in August, 17 were children. Every child is born with the right to safety, the right to protection and the right to development. For Palestinian children, these rights are violated on a daily basis.

Ireland has consistently raised the severe impact of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on children, including during our current tenure on the UN Security Council. Ireland has called on Israel to comply with its obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Children must never be the target of violence or be put in harm’s way.

Furthermore, Ireland is a long-standing supporter of the work of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, UNRWA, which provides vital services, including education, to 5.7 million registered Palestine refugees in the occupied Palestinian territory, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria. Last year, Ireland signed an agreement with UNRWA to provide predictable financial support to the agency, pledging €6 million per annum over three years. During the recent visit to Dublin of the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, I was pleased to announce an additional €2 million in funding for UNRWA, bringing our total contribution in 2022 to €8 million.

I have raised this issue. My Department is raising it at a senior level with the Israeli ambassador. It is an ongoing concern. Another child has died in the context of a conflict that has a political solution if there is a will to push it forward.

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