Johnny Guirke (Meath West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Distressing as it is to see, hear and read what is happening in Gaza, great credit must be given to the doctors, aid workers, photographers and camera crews who risk their lives every day to tell us these horrific stories. Without them we would not be able to call on those responsible to stop.

I thank people right across the world who have come out in their millions to support the Palestinian people. I want to see the release of Emily Hand and all other hostages, including those in Israeli jails. There are also the 2.2 million hostages who have been penned into Gaza for the past 17 years. In the past five weeks, 11,200 Palestinians have been killed, with 4,600 of those being children. Some 28,000 have been injured. Some 1.5 million people have been displaced. A child is being killed every ten minutes. Some 3,250 Palestinians are missing under the rubble, and 1,700 of those are children. Some 50 media workers have been killed, including 38 journalists. Some 101 aid workers have been killed. Twenty-two of Gaza's 35 hospitals have been forced to close down, and most medical clinics have closed. Babies are dying because there is no electricity or fuel for incubators. The daily existence of the Palestinian people has become an endless cycle of despair.

World leaders look on while men, women and children are being slaughtered. I wonder to myself why. Is it because those leaders want a base in the Middle East? Is it because Israel has too much power, money and influence in their countries? Is it because the European Union has licensed €2 billion in arms sales to Israel since 2012? Is it because the Palestinian people are not as white as the rest of us and their lives do not matter? Or is it all of the above?

While I am not directly impacted by what is going on in Gaza, I find it very hard to watch the news every night. For hours I think of what the world is letting happen to the Palestinian people. I ask world leaders in the West: how do you sleep at night, giving Israel a free hand to do what it likes and to answer to nobody? You need to stop treating them like spoiled brats. It is time you got the courage to say "Stop". I say to Netanyahu and his war cabinet, I hope and pray that I live long enough to see you before the International Criminal Court, where you belong. To the Palestinian people, my heart goes out for you. You have the support of right-minded people right across the world. Ireland stands with you. Remember: it is not those who can inflict the most but those who can endure the most who will win.

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