Mairéad Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

"Everything in Gaza is upside down. It is hell to be honest. It is hard to find food, hard to find water. It's hard for everyone. I am lucky. I am so happy that I am going to leave." Those were the words we heard this morning from Ayman Shaheen as he prepared to pass the Rafah crossing into Egypt. The hell in Gaza continues and, as we debate this motion, Israeli soldiers are raiding Al-Shifa Hospital, causing more terror and more hell. Al-Shifa Hospital is where premature babies died because the hospital's incubators had no access to electricity. Al-Shifa Hospital is where women have Caesarean sections with no pain relief.

In that context, how can we continue to allow the Israeli ambassador to be here? War crimes are war crimes, no matter the perpetrator, and the hypocrisy is lost on no one when some of our European neighbours call out war crimes only when it suits their own agenda and not when they are committed by so-called allies. Not calling out Israel's actions as war crimes only weakens the calls when other war crimes are committed. The lives of all must be deemed equal, and the double standards must end.

Ireland has been a strong voice in solidarity with the people of Palestine for a long, long time. Ours is a unique voice in western Europe, an outlier. Our voice, therefore, must continue to be strong. We are on the right side of history on this. Far more importantly, we are on the right side of humanity. In 2021, we were the first Parliament to recognise that Israel's illegal occupation was de facto annexation and, therefore, a war crime. We have seen many more war crimes perpetrated since, and we must refer Israel to the International Criminal Court. We have a moral obligation to do so.

This year Sinn Féin brought forward the Illegal Israeli Settlements Divestment Bill, which, unfortunately, this Government kicked down the road for nine months. It must be enacted now. From the thousands of emails we have received today, it is clear the Irish people do not want to be stakeholders in the war crimes being perpetrated by Israel.

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