Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank People Before Profit for the opportunity to discuss this really important issue. I welcome the news that there is talk of a planned four-day truce in the bombardment of Gaza. I welcome reports that Hamas has agreed to release 50 Israeli hostages. Like everybody in this House, I really hope Emily Hand is among them. I also welcome that Israel will release 150 Palestinian hostages as part of the process. The truce must be the seed of peace talks. However, the commentary this morning indicates that Israel is intent on continuing its genocidal bombardment of Gaza. There have been previous peace deals but Israel has continued to impose its apartheid regime on the Palestinian people. It continued its deliberate seizing of Palestinian lands and displacing Palestinians from their homes. It continued to imprison men, women and children without trial.

Israel is an occupying force and Israel is playing the victim. The reason Israel portrays itself as the victim is the lack of sanctions by the international community. The international community is complicit by standing by as Israel commits war crimes. Israel's propaganda machine likes to portray the situation in Gaza as only beginning on 7 October. I stood in this Chamber last week and named several young Palestinian children who were murdered by Israel prior to 7 October this year. The propaganda machine will not mention the increasing hostilities by the illegal Israeli settlers towards the Palestinian people in the West Bank. The West Bank is not controlled by Hamas. Over 200 Palestinian people have been killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank since 7 October. Over 2,000 Palestinians from the West Bank have been interned without trial by Israel since 7 October. The international community stands idly by and allows this to happen with no consequences and no sanctions. The ordinary people in Ireland and across the world are crying out to stop the slaughter. Some 14,000 men, women and children have been slaughtered in Gaza. I joined tens of thousands of people in a march of solidarity with the Palestinian people at the weekend. I joined the people again when I called for sanctions against Israel.

I call on Micheál Martin to stop pointing at holes in ceilings and start fixing the holes in his own party's policies when it comes to Palestine. I would like Ireland to formally recognise the state of Palestine and impose sanctions now.

See this speech in context