Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I commend the Social Democrats on tabling this motion and giving us another opportunity to talk about the absolutely horrendous tragedy unfolding in Gaza.

I also take the opportunity to welcome the reports that Irish citizens have started to make their way across the Rafah crossing out of Gaza. I repeat my call that all those in Gaza who wish to leave should be given free passage to do so. We also repeat our call for the release of all hostages and we are particularly thinking of Emily Hand's family today.

I am ashamed by the international community's response to what we have seen in Gaza and particularly ashamed by the response of the EU. EU leaders have ensured that the European Union no longer has any credibility to be a voice for peace, international law and the basic rules of humanity for as long as it refuses to take a stand.

Some of the atrocities that we have seen get lost in the news and I just want to mention a few. On 11 October, Israel targeted the Al-Furqan neighbourhood, striking 450 targets within 24 hours. One blast hit the Gaza city seaport, setting fishing boats on fire. On 18 October, almost 500 people were killed in an air attack on the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital. On 31 October, an Israeli airstrike on the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza killed at least 120 people, injuring another 400. The next day the camp was targeted for a second time. On 4 November, Israeli airstrikes hit a Gaza water reservoir which provides Rafah neighbourhoods while also striking a convoy of ambulances at the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza city that resulted in at least 15 deaths. On 10 October, Israeli snipers killed at least one and injured a further 20 displaced persons who were seeking shelter at Al-Quds Hospital.

All of these constitute war crimes in themselves. Coupled with that are the ongoing relentless pursuit of policies of collective punishment, targeting and killing civilians, targeting and bombing civilian infrastructure including hospitals, the policy of mass forced displacement and of the policy of denial of food, fuel and water to the civilian population. Each of those individually constitutes war crimes and yet the world is turning a blind eye and, worse still, the EU is providing cover. So, what of Ireland? As has already been mentioned, the Irish Government is better than many in respect of the language it has used but words are not good enough. It is not sufficient to say, as we heard a Minister say yesterday, that Israel is engaged in a war on children. It is not good enough to say, as the Taoiseach and Tánaiste have done, that what Israel is doing constitutes collective punishment, that it borders on revenge and that it cannot be without consequences if the Government then rejects every single possible option put forward.

The Minister of State's most laughable point today was to state that a referral to the International Criminal Court would repeat an action already taken when the very premise of his response is that Ireland will only enact measures that are repeating actions already taken. While the Government is insisting on limiting its focus through actions of the EU, the Minister is essentially saying that Ireland will do nothing.

We have put forward several proposals not just since 7 October but also before that. To recognise the state of Palestine, the Government says, "Not yet." To enact the Occupied Territories Bill, the Government says, "We can't do it." To adopt the illegal Israeli settlements Bill, the Government delays and frustrates. To refer Israel to the International Criminal Court, the Government says, "We won't do it." To stop Israel's preferred trade deals with the EU, no chance. To suspend Israel's participation in Horizon Europe, what is that essentially? To remove diplomatic status for the Israeli ambassador to Ireland, who today used her position to publish a defence of heinous war crimes in a national newspaper, shock horror. Every single possible action that might help pressure Israel to stop the slaughter of innocent Palestinians is met with pathetic excuses. It is not good enough. It is time - it is well past time - for Ireland to show leadership and not to follow the lead of a European Union that clearly is not willing or capable of providing the leadership that is much needed in this instance.

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