Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Jenin refugee camp is home to more than 22,000 Palestinians. These refugees were expelled from their original homes in 1948 during the Nakba. Last week, the Jenin refugee camp was subject to another attack which has been described as a massacre. Ten residents, including two young children, were murdered. The Israeli attack was reminiscent of a previous large-scale assault on Jenin in 2002 when Israeli undercover forces dressed as civilians entered the camp in private vehicles with Palestinian number plates and proceeded to kill more than 50 Palestinians over the space of 13 days. During last week’s raid, Israeli forces in a military vehicle drove into the camp and proceeded to kill ten people, with one of the children who was killed having been run over. We know the Israelis have form in this, as the late Rachel Corrie was also killed in this manner. However, that this would happen to a small child is an imaginable horror. After unleashing the attack, the Israeli forces proceeded to shoot at ambulances so that they were prevented from treating the wounded. They fired tear-gas towards the Jenin public hospital, which then seeped into the children’s ward. A fortnight ago, the President of the European Commission, President von der Leyen, said it was imperative that we maintain the positive momentum of EU-Israeli relations. I ask the Tánaiste whether he raised these horrors at the European Council meeting. If not, will he ensure he raises them at the next meeting?

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