Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

On 25 October, when pre-European Council meeting statements were being discussed, the Taoiseach noted that the death toll in Gaza at the time was 5,000. The government of Israel has been moving quickly since then and attacking the Gaza Strip at such a rate that the number of deaths as a result of the bombardment of Gaza is now in excess of 10,000. It is precisely because of this rapid increase in deaths that Sinn Féin has called for a ceasefire from the earliest days of the conflict. I advise all of those who have been reluctant to call for a ceasefire and who have recently expressed their discomfort with the extent of the death toll that it would have been more appropriate for them to call for a ceasefire in the first place instead of lamenting the extent of the death toll afterwards. It was the conclusion of the EU Council meeting that no progress has been made in reaching that point. For example, reference continues to be made to Israel's right to defend itself in line with international law and international humanitarian law.

Of course, nothing can justify the deliberate killing, injuring and kidnapping of civilians, as Hamas has done, but what we have been witnessing has gone far beyond self-defence. Israel has broken international and humanitarian law and continues to do so precisely because the words used by the European Council and others are designed to be bland and uncritical of the Israeli Government and will have little impact. Let us call it for what it really is. It is not self-defence; it is genocide by Israel, full stop. As long as member states continue to adopt this attitude, the death toll will continue to rise, which it has done for so long. The world will watch on as Palestinians suffer.

Could the Minister of State outline the discussions that took place on the process involving the determination of who is to be given access to leave via the Egyptian border?

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