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

We have all been watching the violence escalate in Israel and Gaza over the past 11 days with grave horror and distress, as civilian deaths have mounted.

Late last night, we learned with increasing horror that an air strike on the al-Ahli Arab Hospital in besieged Gaza has killed many hundreds of people. An image which will stay with all of us is that of the press conference held by hospital staff surrounded by such appalling scenes of carnage. The Taoiseach has described it rightly as an atrocity and it clearly is only the latest in this awful conflict. They are still pulling bodies out of the rubble in that hospital and in the other residential areas of Gaza which have been under bombardment by Israel. I think all of us share the same human response of distress and grief to see this humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza unfolding before our eyes.

I listened to the Israeli ambassador’s response this morning which shamefully focused less on the human tragedy resulting from the attack on the hospital and more on the attribution of blame for the bombing of the hospital. Certainly, we believe, and I think the Taoiseach does too because the Tánaiste has said this, that there is now a need for an independent international investigation to be carried out into last night's attack on a hospital and that should be carried out by the International Criminal Court, which has accepted the mandate. The Tánaiste, as I say, has spoken in support of that.

What is undoubtedly the case is that even before last night’s attack, Israel had been committing horrific breaches of international law upon the people of Gaza. The bombardment of civilians and of civilian infrastructure, the siege and starvation tactics being deployed upon the people of Gaza and the forced evacuation of thousands into the south of this tiny open-air prison all amount to clear violations of international humanitarian law. Just as our legal framework at international level criminalises the barbaric acts of Hamas, which I have condemned, it also provides a clear framework which should be governing Israel's response. Any nation in any armed conflict, no matter what the provocation it claims, is bound in law to comply with internationally established laws of war, international laws and the Geneva Conventions. This much is evident: the besiegement and bombardment of civilians amount to clear breaches of those laws and those conventions.

There is no space for equivocation on this. I believe that Ireland and the Irish Government need to be at the forefront of calls, at EU and UN level, for Israel to respect international humanitarian law. We need to speak with a united voice on that. That is why we, in Labour, have put forward a series of amendments to the motion the Government has proposed. I want us to be sure that we can take those amendments, that we can debate this and create a united voice for peace across the floor of this House. Will the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste accept our amendments, which would unreservedly condemn the collective punishment and the indiscriminate bombing of residential areas in Gaza and which would call for not only a humanitarian pause but an immediate ceasefire? I heard the Taoiseach's response earlier and he and the Government have been strong on that too. We need to speak with that united voice to ensure that we see relief for the appalling conditions of the citizens of Gaza.

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