Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

The situation in Gaza is a humanitarian catastrophe. Yesterday, the death toll stood at 3,000, more than one third of whom are children. A child in Gaza is now being killed every 15 minutes, so in real terms, by the time the Taoiseach finishes responding to my questions, another child will be dead. There is no water or electricity. Food has nearly run out. Even the body bags have now run out. Hospital generators are running on fumes. When the hospitals run out of fuel, some time today or tomorrow, incubators keeping babies alive will be switched off. Their short lives will be over then too. Humanitarian aid, food, water and medical supplies are stuck in Egypt because Israel has refused to agree a ceasefire. Israel will not even stop bombing for a few hours to allow citizens of its supposed allies to get out. Forty Irish citizens are trapped in Gaza. The carnage and terror they witness every second they remain there is unimaginable.

This is not a war. It is a genocide and ethnic cleansing. The response of the EU has not just been inadequate but has been callous, indifferent and dangerous. This reached rock bottom on Friday when Ursula von der Leyen visited Israel. By then, Israel had dropped 6,000 bombs on an area half the size of Louth, thousands were dead and injured, food, water and electricity supplies had been cut off, and the Israeli Government had given 1.2 million people 24 hours' notice to leave northern Gaza. What was the European Commission President's response to this litany of war crimes and breaches of international law? She stood with the Israeli Prime Minister and offered him the EU's unqualified and unconditional support. She said, "Israel can count on the EU."

Last year, when Russia targeted civilian infrastructure and cut off electricity supplies, Ursula von der Leyen called out its war crimes. When Israel acts similarly, she not only failed to utter a single word of criticism but she went to the region to offer support for its war crimes in our name. The Commission President's failure to unequivocally condemn Israel's collective punishment of the Palestinian people has undermined the EU's response to this crisis. Given that von der Leyen has no authority to override member states' foreign policy positions, her comments also amounted to a serious overreach of her authority.

I am grateful that the Taoiseach and Tánaiste have been clear that Ireland's position is that Israel is in breach of international law but it is really concerning to hear the Taoiseach's words in this Chamber because they are weak. He has an opportunity at today's emergency meeting of the European Council. I have three questions. Will he explicitly condemn the European Commission President's response to this humanitarian disaster? What will he do to ensure that Ireland exerts the strongest possible influence for a ceasefire and de-escalation of violence at that meeting? What is the Government doing to get Irish citizens out of Gaza?

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