Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I too take issue with the Order of Business so that a Government-crafted motion on Palestine and Israel would be taken tomorrow without debate, a motion we have only just seen. It was supplied to us, I think, just half an hour ago. I agree that we should have been able to come to a consensual position on a cross-party basis, which would have been a far preferable way to approach this issue. We all share an outright condemnation of the brutality of Hamas. However, we also share an outright condemnation of the escalation in violence over the past week by Israel and the war crimes being committed now by Israel against the civilian population in Gaza. We are seeing children buried under rubble, families forced to flee hospitals without essential supplies and utter devastation and horror unfolding. It is appropriate that we come together in this House and speak with a powerful united voice as passionate advocates for peace and for an agreed resolution of this horrific violence. We should be able to do this. We in the Labour Party would be very happy, as I think would other Opposition parties, to work with the Government to ensure we have a cross-party motion before this House that we could debate and on which we could come together to ensure that Ireland remains a powerful voice for peace at European level.

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