Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this very emotive subject. We have seen, over the last month, the murder of innocent children, men, women and families in Palestine. We have also seen the same thing happening in Israel. I condemn both Israel and Hamas for the actions they have taken in using children, men, women and families as a shield for some objective or some righteousness that they think they have on either side. We have to call this out on both sides for what it is. It is totally wrong. We can put whatever kind of definition on it, but it is just not right in the world.

I am disappointed at the attitude of the US and of Ursula von der Leyen and the European Union in not being more straightforward in their condemnation of Israel's actions. We have done it with Russia, lest that war that is still going on be forgotten. We also brought in sanctions. We heard last night that there will be a four-day cessation of violence to allow people to be evacuated. That is the first sign of hope for the people living in the region that the diplomacy that has been going on behind closed the scenes is working. I would say the Irish Government has played a part in that. While we may not be the most popular country with Israel at the moment, I think we have done what we are always expected to do, namely, to be on the side of right, to be available and to try to bring together a diplomatic solution to this particular issue.

Luke Silke of the Aontú party was out in Mexico and Colombia last week. He was telling me how in Colombia they are using the Irish model for getting peace in Northern Ireland to try to repair the fractious behaviour they have over there. That in itself says something about Ireland and how we got peace going in Northern Ireland, which can be modelled in other places. It takes a huge effort. I will be calling on everybody in this House, including the Government, to plead with the participants in this vile destruction of one another. I appeal to the US and the European Union and anybody else in the world who can exert diplomatic influence to use these four days to try to set in place dialogue about getting a more permanent ceasefire. I hope we get a stage where we can deliver peace in that part of the world.

Since I was a child, I have been hearing about the Gaza Strip and the Palestine Liberation Organisation, PLO. I was not a child yesterday; I go back a good while. There has been strife there for generations. It has been built into children, and no wonder when we see what is happening to children. It is a breeding ground for further extreme groups who have no other concept because of what they experienced as children. We have to bear that in mind. We saw in Northern Ireland when there were atrocities and people were killed how families became deeply rooted in hatred because of what happened to a member of their family. This is not an easy task. We can talk about economic recoveries in countries, the economy and budgets. We will deal with the Finance Bill tonight and all of this kind of stuff. At the end of the day, if we do not have life and if people cannot live in peace, in the comfort of knowing they are safe in their homes or hospitals, we are going no place in this world.

I believe there are a lot of behind-the-scenes, back-channel discussions going on to try to get people to agree a more permanent ceasefire. I take the four days we have now as a time for people to draw their breath and allow those who want to leave to do so. I hope it is not clearing the pitch to commence another torrent of destruction on infrastructure and people. It is unbelievable, in 2023, that people in this world still want to inflict such hardship, pain and death on one another. It is an incredible thing that we have not learned from all the wars we have had. Previous generations and centuries have been full of wars.

It is very easy to say what should be done but it is another job to do it in a diplomatic way, so we are trying to make progress rather than trying to push people away. That is why it is very important that we retain the Israeli ambassador and our diplomatic links with every country. We must think about the soldiers we have in Lebanon, which is not far away, and what they are doing for peacekeeping. We have to be conscious that if this violence escalates and spreads further, it will put our peacekeeping force in extreme danger. We have to take that into account as well. We have links with all of these countries in the Middle East for one reason or another, including with Israel for high-level medical support for our UN soldiers. We have got to look at everything. It is important that everybody in the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Taoiseach, the Tánaiste, and everybody else go a little bit further in their efforts to bring a lasting solution and be part of it.

One of the things we have to do is convince the US and the European Union that there is a way forward. Let us try to work with the EU as well as getting Israel and Palestine together. There has to be a solution. Everybody says it is a two-state solution. So be it. I have heard that being talked about for a long time. I heard the Taoiseach talking about it yesterday. It is the only solution in his view. Let us try to work on a solution rather than condemning one another. We can condemn every action that has been taken, and rightly so. There is nobody in this conflict that has done things right when people are dying in such numbers and children are dying. We see babies in incubators being deprived of oxygen and electricity that they need to live. It is indescribably cruel and I do not know how anybody who is involved in that or perpetrates that type of crime can sleep at night. With God's help and the help of all rational people, we will get a solution. It might take time but we should work on it together.

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