Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Palestinian people of Gaza are under an unmerciful onslaught that includes carpet bombing of civilian infrastructure and civilians. Israel has cut off food, water and energy. What it is offering is bombs, starvation and 1 million people being displaced within Gaza. In other places and at other times, this would be called genocide and ethnic cleansing.

Then we listen to what this Israeli regime says. The emphasis is on damage and not on accuracy, or "human animals". What does Benjamin Netanyahu mean by, "We will change the Middle East"? Palestinians have dealt with a long history of dispossession, occupation and subjugation by Israel. They deal with annexation and apartheid. There is no roadmap for self-determination. Promises that may have been made in Oslo have long since fizzled away and they have no hope for what happens in the future. This is completely the case in Gaza, a besieged open prison where young people are offered nothing. Some say the choice is between a slow death and now a fast death.

What has the world done for these people? I would say very little; some would say nothing. The actions of Hamas are to be called out as barbarous, be they the taking of hostages or the brutal killings. They offer nothing relating to Palestinian statehood. However, let us be absolutely clear. This Israeli regime, which has offered only oppression, or from its point of view security, has led to the biggest failure in Israeli intelligence in the 50 years since the Yom Kippur War. It has absolutely failed to protect the Israeli people.

What do we need? The only thing that needs to be said here and the only argument that needs to be made to the international community is for an immediate ceasefire, the release of the hostages and to ensure humanitarian aid is delivered to save the Palestinian people. There will be a need for international intervention and a roadmap for peace, justice and freedom for the Palestinian people. We cannot have the green-lighting by Joe Biden or Ursula von der Leyen, backing of Israel as it commits war crimes that need to be called out. That is what we need the Irish Government and the international community to do. That is what we owe the Palestinian people.

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