Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle) | Oireachtas source

I want to say a few words, if I might be indulged, before we start into this important debate. I have to acknowledge that it is useful that the House is having this debate. The level of interest, nationally and internationally, in this issue, is without precedent, and it brings home to me just how small the global community is. I have never received as many communications in respect of anything. In light of that, it behoves us all to be careful and moderate, and not to enflame the situation in our contributions. Somebody contacted me earlier today to talk about the al-Ahli Arab Hospital, to point out that we are all appalled by what happened there but that we do not know yet precisely what happened, and we should bear that in mind.

Before handing over to the Tánaiste I want to say that for 75 years the area has been unstable and has witnessed countless brutal and inhuman attacks on the civilian populations in both Palestine and Israel. I want to join my colleagues in utterly condemning the barbaric attack on Israel's citizens by Hamas, on innocent men, women and children, on 7 October. I fully accept that Israel as a state has a right to defend itself, just as Ireland, Ukraine and any sovereign state has. It has a right to pursue Hamas, which is intent on the utter destruction of the Israeli state. The Israeli Government, however, has no authority to breach international law and when it comes to indiscriminate attacks on the civilian population of Gaza, or Palestinian people anywhere, it too is entitled to utter condemnation. The civilised world has a right to expect that the actions of a sovereign government would be immeasurably better than those of a terrorist organisation. Barbarism is barbarism, irrespective of who commits it.

After 75 years of conflict, it is clear that the Holy Land cannot be allowed to degenerate into a situation of even more appalling bloodshed. What we have witnessed in the past few days and weeks is an abject failure of politics, an appalling failure of diplomacy, a catastrophic failure of the international community and, indeed, a very failure of humanity itself. We need an immediate ceasefire, a humanitarian corridor to allow the exit of those who most need it and the entry of aid to support the civilian population. We need peace and we need it now.

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