Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Taoiseach, more than 5,500 children have now been killed in Israel's brutal bombardment of Gaza. More than 13,500 Gazans have been slaughtered and nearly 6,000 are missing. Entire Palestinian families have been wiped out, entire neighbourhoods and communities wiped from the face of the earth and generations erased. Forty-five days of horror have rained down on the Palestinian people in a merciless crescendo of 75 years of oppression, occupation and apartheid.

Israel's relentless onslaught means nowhere in Gaza is safe. Homes, hospitals and schools have been obliterated, places of worship destroyed and refugee camps bombed. Not even babies are safe. Newborn babies have died because incubators stopped working. On Sunday, 31 premature babies were evacuated from the decimated Al-Shifa hospital to Egypt. That these vulnerable babies could be considered the lucky ones speaks to the utter depravity of this onslaught. As millions are displaced, the refugee people of Gaza face starvation and the outbreak of disease. Having already been forced south, they are now being ordered to move again. Where do they go, Taoiseach? This systematic dehumanisation and annihilation of the Palestinian people is happening before the eyes of the world, live on TV and social media.

The Irish Government must hold Israel to account. The South African Government and others have referred Israel to the International Criminal Court. Ireland must do the same.

See this speech in context