Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Government's position on this has been very clear. There should be a humanitarian ceasefire immediately so that aid can go into Gaza and EU citizens and other citizens can leave. Hamas should free all of the hostages it is holding without any conditions and should lay down its arms because it is a terrorist organisation. We need a new peace initiative in the Middle East, desperately so.

The situation in Gaza is critical. The high number of civilian casualties is deeply shocking, in particular the number of children, journalists and also UN and other aid workers who have been killed. The protection of civilians and de-escalation is a priority. A humanitarian ceasefire is required immediately and the level of aid passing into Gaza needs to be accelerated as a matter of urgency. We continue to engage with EU and regional partners to increase the aid allowed into Gaza and the Government is in regular contact with regional foreign ministers and leaders. The Tánaiste has announced €13 million in humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people with €10 million for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, UNRWA, and €3 million for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, UNOCHA.

Ireland condemns outright the attack by Hamas and affirms Israel's right to defend itself, but this must be in line with international humanitarian law and in a proportionate manner, and this has not been the case. A distinction has to be made between Hamas and civilians in Gaza. Targeting civilian infrastructure is not acceptable and collective punishment is a breach of international humanitarian law in our view. De-escalation and the protection of civilians must be our first priority.

In relation to the role of the International Criminal Court, attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure is a breach of international humanitarian law. All potential violations of international humanitarian law should be investigated. The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, confirmed the court has jurisdiction over the situation in the occupied territory and by Palestinian nationals outside it, so we do not need to make a referral for an investigation to take place.

In regard to the issue of the ambassador raised by Deputy Paul Murphy, I do not believe it would be the right thing to expel the ambassador from Israel for exactly the same reasons that we did not expel the Russian ambassador in relation to Ukraine. We need to be able to engage at some level. There are around 40 Irish citizens being held in Gaza and we want them to be able to leave.

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