I welcome the opportunity to address the House on the tragic and shocking events we are witnessing in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory in the aftermath of the heinous attack by Hamas on Israel. I am well aware of the high level of engagement with this issue across this House. In this regard, the Government has tabled a motion on the situation in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory, which I dealt with earlier in commending it to the House.

At the outset, I reiterate the Government's sincere condolences to the families of Kim Damti and Emily Hand. Their tragic deaths brought home to us all here in Ireland the devastating impact of the Hamas attack on the lives of innocent civilians, including many children and young people with lives full of promise ahead of them.

I will share some personal reflections on the human impact of these shocking developments. Six weeks ago, I visited Israel, the occupied Palestinian territory and Jordan. I met a wide range of interlocutors, including governmental counterparts and representatives of historic and cultural institutions, think tanks and academia, as well as civil society organisations. More fundamentally, I met people. I met our partners and friends, all of whom, along with their families and communities, have suffered a profound shock. My thoughts and wishes are with every one of them.

I recall in particular my meeting with an organisation called Parents Circle. This group brings together members of Israeli and Palestinian families who have suffered bereavements in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Some Deputies may have read Colum McCann's novel Apeirogon. The novel tells the story of two of the members of Parents Circle. They are Bassam, a Palestinian father whose ten-year-old daughter was killed by an Israeli Defense Force, IDF, sniper, and Rami, whose 13-year-old daughter was killed in a suicide bombing in Israel. I sat with Bassam and Rami, and with Layla and Robi, who also lost children, over a meal in Jerusalem. They were two Israelis and two Palestinians who shared stories of terrible loss. They described the challenges they faced in seeking to bridge the divide between Israeli and Palestinian people. They told me about their extraordinary work in telling their stories everywhere from secondary schools to the Chamber of the United Nations Security Council. In the wake of what we have seen, it would be understandable to give up in despair and to lose hope. However, those people are bravely continuing their work and with their message of reconciliation. In their words: "The toll of violence is not just counted in numbers; it is measured in the shattered dreams, the untapped potential and the irreplaceable bonds severed by these horrifying actions."

During my visit to Israel, I also met representatives of the Abraham Initiatives, a civil society organisation working to promote dialogue between Jewish and Arab Israelis in mixed towns in Israel. I had a fascinating conversation with a group of Jewish and Arab Israeli local government representatives who had been to Belfast last year. They had come back from that visit convinced that there were ways to work together to tackle the suspicion, discrimination and exclusion that dog mixed cities in Israel. I learned with absolute horror this week that one of its co-directors, Thabet Abu Rass, who hosted my visit, lost eight family members last week following a strike on north Gaza. His aunt, who is 83 years old, is among those ordered to evacuate north Gaza. She does not have the capacity to do so. Against this harrowing backdrop, the Abraham Initiatives also continues to promote its message of peaceful coexistence.

Just days before the Hamas attack, Sonya McGuinness, our ambassador to Israel, attended and spoke at a joint march and rally of 4,000 Israeli and Palestinian women. It was organised jointly by an Israeli movement called Women Wage Peace and its Palestinian counterpart, Women of the Sun. These movements were formed in the aftermath of the war in Gaza in 2014 to promote reconciliation between the two sides. They were marching to call upon leaders to get back around the table, to restore a political horizon, to engage in dialogue and to find solutions. They were doing so for the sake of all Israelis and all Palestinians. One of their leading campaigners, Vivian Silver, who lived in a kibbutz that was attacked by Hamas, has been missing since the day of the attack. She may be among the hostages being held in Gaza. The 84-year-old mother of another member of Women Wage Peace is confirmed among the hostages. Even in the face of such personal anguish, Women Wage Peace has made its position clear by stating:

Despite the rage and pain in the face of the criminal ... acts committed by Hamas, including incessant shelling of towns all over Israel, we must not lose human dignity ... it is our obligation as mothers, as women, as human beings and as an entire nation not to lose [these] ... values.

To all such organisations, I want to say that to promote reconciliation in the immediate aftermath of such outrage and personal loss is utterly brave and heroic. Their voices are needed now more than ever and we will do everything that we can to amplify that voice.

I reiterate the Government's unequivocal condemnation of the attack by Hamas on Israel. The actions that we witnessed were savage and brutal, and included the indiscriminate killing of civilians going about their daily lives, the targeting of young partygoers at a music festival and the seizing of hostages, including children and elderly people. These are reprehensible actions and I have been absolutely clear that all hostages, Israeli and international, must be released unconditionally. I have underlined that there is no justification - none - for such terror.

In a letter to the foreign minister Eli Cohen on 8 October, I expressed Ireland's deepest condolences to the Israeli people. I have spoken with the Israeli ambassador here in Ireland and also with the chair of the Jewish Representative Council of Ireland. There is an immense sense of shock and trauma among the Jewish and Israeli communities here in Ireland. The solidarity and support of the Irish people is both needed and valued at this time.

The situation has also directly affected Irish citizens in both Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory. My Department, including our missions on the ground in Tel Aviv, Ramallah and Cairo, and our consular crisis team at headquarters, has been working tirelessly over the past ten days, providing assistance and advice. This consular work remains a high priority. We continue to urge citizens currently in Israel, the occupied Palestinian territory or Lebanon to register with the relevant embassy and we are advising against all travel to Israel, the occupied territories and Lebanon. Department of Foreign Affairs officials are also in constant contact with our citizens in Gaza and with all relevant authorities in respect of their cases. We are also closely co-ordinating with European Union and other states that have citizens in Gaza.

I know that all of us empathise deeply with the enormous fear and anxiety expressed by Palestinian students based in Ireland for their families back home, including many who are here on Irish Aid fellowship programmes.

I have also underlined that, in line with international law, Israel has the right to defend itself against attack. However, this must be done within the parameters of international humanitarian law.

It is vital that we distinguish between Hamas and the Palestinian people, including Palestinian civilians in Gaza. This is very well understood here in Ireland but I am concerned at the commentary in some international media coverage and on social media that blurs this distinction.

There is also a role for the Palestinian Authority to play in communicating this message at an international level. This is a point I emphasised during my calls early last week with Palestinian foreign minister, Riyad al-Maliki, and the secretary general of Fatah's Central Committee, Jibril Rajoub. I also very much welcome the clear message from President Biden following his call with President Abbas where he reiterated that Hamas does not stand for the Palestinian people's right to dignity and self-determination These messages are vital at this time in view of the deeply alarming situation that is unfolding in Gaza. Water, electricity and food supplies into Gaza have been seriously disrupted. Hospitals are running out of power. People are running out of essential supplies. More than 1 million people were given an order to evacuate the north of Gaza by the Israeli military. This is simply unworkable and wrong. Civilian deaths are increasing. We watched in horror the appalling attack on the Al-Ahli hospital in Gaza last night. Hundreds of civilians, patients, staff and those seeking shelter from aerial attacks have died. While we do not yet know who was responsible for that strike, we have seen all too clearly the anguish and pain it has caused. Let us be unambiguous. As the United Nations Secretary General has underlined, even wars have rules. International humanitarian law applies in all conflicts, in all circumstances, to state and non-state actors alike. It is not optional; it is obligatory. The protection of civilians is at its core.

Addressing the humanitarian situation in Gaza, including through the urgent establishment of humanitarian corridors, has been a key focus of my discussions over the past week with EU and regional leaders and UN counterparts, including the Palestinian Authority, the foreign minister of Jordan, Ayman Safadi, and Sheikh Abdullah, foreign minister of the United Arab Emirates.

I also spoke on Monday evening with the Commissioner General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency UNRWA, for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, Philippe Lazzarini, who has described the situation on the ground in Gaza as "an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe". Tragically, UNRWA lost 14 of its own staff while carrying out their vital role in Gaza. I extend my heartfelt condolences to their families and colleagues. During my call with the Commissioner General, I underlined Ireland’s unwavering support.

UNRWA and the other UN agencies trying to meet the needs of so many people in desperate situations urgently need new funding. I am announcing this evening an immediate package of €13 million comprising €10 million for UNRWA and €3 million for the UNOCHA Palestine humanitarian fund. This is in addition to our core funding already allocated. I urge all EU and regional partners to step up now to provide whatever financial support they can to UNRWA. This is a crisis that simply cannot wait.

The Government also made clear that we support an immediate humanitarian pause or humanitarian ceasefire to give space to establish humanitarian corridors to meet the immediate needs of all civilians in Gaza. The UN Secretary General has also been clear in his call for this. The Taoiseach raised this as a priority for Ireland in his discussions with European leaders at the emergency European Council meeting last evening, and I will emphasise this with my foreign minister counterparts as we prepare to meet in Luxembourg next Monday.

Given the magnitude of the situation in Gaza, it can be possible to overlook the deteriorating situation in the West Bank and we must not allow this to happen. The situation remains very tense. Since the Hamas attack on 7 October, the UN has reported more than 60 Palestinian fatalities. There are increasing levels of secular violence and the West Bank Protection Consortium, which I met during my visit, has reported that 470 Palestinians from nine communities have been forcibly displaced and transferred in the past ten days. This includes members of a Bedouin community whom I met during my visit. We also saw demonstrations last night in Ramallah and other West Bank towns against the Palestinian Authority leadership.

The risk of a wider regional escalation is also deeply concerning and must also be the focus of urgent international efforts. Iran has openly warned of the opening of an additional front on Israel's borders with both Syria and Lebanon. Israeli villages in the border region are being evacuated and additional Israeli forces have been mobilised. Exchanges of rocket fire between militant groups in Lebanon and Syria and the Israeli defence forces have claimed lives, including that of Reuters journalist, Issam Abdallah.

I spoke earlier today with the defence minister of Lebanon, Maurice Sleem. I underlined our concern about the current situation at the Lebanon-Israel border and Hezbollah’s role in the conflict. I also discussed the role of our troops in the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, UNIFIL, and emphasised the importance of their safety and security. I was very clear with him that an escalation of this conflict serves nobody and asked him to bring all his influence to bear to prevent this.

I also spoke with the Iranian foreign minister on Monday evening and urged him in the strongest terms to bring his influence to bear in avoiding regional escalation and insist on the immediate and unconditional release of hostages. Iran has a pivotal role to play in avoiding escalation and our mission in Tehran is repeating these messages in unambiguous terms to the Iranian authorities. I will undertake further consultations with key regional actors over the coming days and will emphasise the crucial message of de-escalation in all my conversations.

I welcome the intense diplomatic engagement being undertaken by the United States at this time. Secretary of State Blinken is engaged with several key partners in the region. The visit of President Biden to Israel today is also very significant, although I very much regret that Arab leaders who were scheduled to meet him in Amman will no longer do so.

As Minister for Defence, I also remain in close contact with our military team deployed along the Blue Line with the UNIFIL peacekeeping operation in Lebanon. Ireland has a strong and long-lasting connection with UNIFIL and we have deployed troops to the mission since 1978. It represents our largest deployment overseas at present with 331 personnel. UNIFIL has made it clear that it is continuing to actively engage with authorities on both sides of the Blue Line to de-escalate the situation. I am, however, concerned that there were hostilities on Sunday along the Blue Line, which impacted UNIFIL headquarters. Fortunately, no peacekeepers were in place at the time. All Irish Defence Forces personnel serving in the region are maintaining a high level of vigilance and continue to monitor the developing situation in their respective mission areas, complying with UN security precautions.

It is important that the EU also plays a constructive and credible role in this crisis. The Union has been unequivocal in its condemnation of the attack by Hamas. I welcome that yesterday's emergency meeting of the European Council also provided an opportunity to reaffirm the Union's principal position that international humanitarian law applies in all circumstances.

The EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy is based on a clear statement that the Union's actions shall be guided by the principles of the United Nations Charter and international law. It is vital that the EU charts a unified way forward on the basis of these principles. As I said in the immediate aftermath of the attack, we have a moral and political obligation to chart the way towards a future in which these events cannot be repeated.

During yesterday's meeting, the Taoiseach also welcomed Saturday's announcement by the European Commission that it will triple its humanitarian aid to Gaza bringing the total amount now from the EU to €75 million. We also underlined that Ireland strongly opposes any suspension of development assistance to the Palestinians while the Commission's review is under way.

On the wider issue of EU funding, I was very clear at last week's emergency meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council that continued development and humanitarian support for the Palestinian people is absolutely essential. Overall, the Union and its member states are consistently, which is worth pointing this out to the House, the largest donors to the Palestinian people with total funding at more than €691 million in 2023 alone.

With regard to the review of the European Commission's development and co-operation funding, I have underlined that this needs to take place as rapidly as possible and in close formation with member states.

We cannot forget that 80% of the Palestinian population in Gaza is dependent on international assistance for basic humanitarian and human needs. We remain committed to delivering this vital support to Palestinian civilians, and their needs should continue to be a central part of the overall response to this crisis by the international community. We will remain steadfast in our efforts, advocacy and action to support the protection of those most vulnerable and to maintain support for those suffering the dire consequences of this new phase of violence.

Even with the scale and significance of the violence that has unfolded over the past number of days in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, it is important to again reflect on the context for Ireland's development and humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people. The shared suffering that has been visited on countless civilians compels us to consider our objectives in the region and ensure sustained efforts towards our goals. Ireland's objective is to achieve a just, enduring and stable peace in the Middle East. This foreign policy goal frames and shapes the Irish Aid approach to the region. Ireland's programme of assistance is an integral part of its contribution to a sustainable peace. Ireland's support to the Palestinian people is designed to support the maintenance of space for a two-state solution and reflects our long-standing commitment to the peaceful development of a viable Palestinian state. Ireland's assistance programme to the Palestinians has been in existence since 2000. Our assistance programme this year was to amount to €16 million. That will almost double following my decision today to allocate a further €13 million in light of the extensive needs in Gaza.

The programme of support to the Palestinian people focuses on four key areas: supporting state-building efforts; provision of humanitarian relief; the protection and promotion of human rights; and support for Palestinian refugees. One of Ireland’s priorities is to strengthen the quality of, and access to, education, which remains essential to the long-term prosperity of the Palestinian people and a future Palestinian state. This is particularly important in such a young society, where nearly 40% of the population is under 14 years of age. We have also created an Ireland-Palestine scholarship programme, which is a dedicated programme for Palestinian students, supporting up to 25 students a year to undertake a one year master's level course in Ireland. A total of 22 Ireland-Palestine scholarship programme students are taking part in the 2023-24 round, 11 of whom are from Gaza and 11 from the West Bank. This support provides a vital avenue of access to higher education for talented Palestinian students. I referred earlier to the anguish many of them are facing now here in Ireland in view of what is happening at home. We have heard that anguish expressed eloquently by some of those students in the past days.

Our programme also focuses on the protection and promotion of human rights. We provide support to Christian Aid Ireland and Trócaire, through which 16 local Palestinian partners are funded. There is a strong advocacy focus to their work, with an emphasis on civil and political rights, and gender issues. The Department of Foreign Affairs also provides direct support to Israeli and Palestinian non-governmental organisations working on issues such as freedom of movement, rule of law, rights of prisoners and detainees, women’s rights and democratic development.

Our representative office in Ramallah and our embassy in Tel Aviv have developed strong relationships with partners working on these issues over many years. We support the West Bank Protection Consortium, which works with communities in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, at risk of forcible transfer from their communities, as well as Comet-ME, which provides basic electricity services to some of the poorest and most marginalised communities in the occupied Palestinian territories. As mentioned earlier, funding to UN agencies, particularly UNRWA, is a core part of our programme.

This is a grave crisis, with the potential for further escalation. Our immediate focus must be on preventing further civilian casualties and avoiding the risk of a wider regional escalation. We must also retain a perspective of how to move forward in the longer term. It is critical that statements from the EU, US and other partners retain a perspective of a lasting and sustainable peace based on the two-state solution. In recent years, there have been accusations that this phrase, "the two-state solution", has been repeated as a mantra without serious efforts to move in this direction. That cannot continue.

If there was a time to reinvigorate the Middle East peace process, it is now. That may seem impossible but there is no choice. Israelis and Palestinians deserve to live in peace, security and dignity. Palestinian aspirations for statehood and sovereignty are absolutely legitimate and must be taken forward. There is no other way to solve this conflict. Any wider regional normalisation efforts, while welcome, cannot substitute for this core reality. This is a very dark period but we can draw inspiration from the tremendous courage and conviction of those individuals and organisations I spoke of at the outset. They have suffered grievously, as people and as families, the direct impact of this conflict. Despite everything, they are determined to continue their peacebuilding efforts in their communities and beyond.

It is my sincere hope that the intense regional and international focus on de-escalating the immediate crisis can also act as a catalyst for renewed engagement on achieving a lasting and sustainable peace. Ireland is doing, and will do, everything possible to contribute to this. I can give this House my personal assurance that I will work tirelessly to exert every possible influence within the European Union, with regional partners and at the United Nations to bring this about.

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