Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputies for their comments. I will certainly convey their compliments to the ambassadors in Tel Aviv, Cairo and Ramallah, who are still working hard and have worked very hard, and also to our team in headquarters, who co-ordinated it all and have maintained almost daily contact with our citizens.

As I said earlier regarding the release of Emily Hand as a hostage, I think it is a story that has been personal for all of us. We heard from Tom about the trauma she has suffered. As I said earlier, the individual cases tell us a wider truth: no child should be kidnapped, no child's home should be violated, no child's home should be bombed and no child should have to suffer the horror of living in a war zone. That is why we are pushing very hard for a humanitarian ceasefire. Two children, including a nine-year-old, were killed in the West Bank overnight. It is unacceptable.

Our position is that it would be unconscionable for this war to resume. As I said earlier, I was reading a report in The New York Timestoday about the level and scale of the action, which is unprecedented. It just has to be brought to an end.

There is a small number of our citizens remaining. The number remaining is fluid because, believe it or not, some people come forward very late. Only in the last week, one citizen has come forward who had not identified themselves for the last seven weeks. It is a small number, below ten, and there are some dependents and visa holders. We will work with the authorities. Some have not been allowed out and we are seeking to facilitate their exit.

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