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

I thank the Deputies for their kind comments and appreciate their supportive comments. In response to Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan, EU member states are supportive of a two-state solution. The issue is how we follow through on it and give heft and a sense of urgency to bringing it about. Part of that will be pressure on the Israeli Government to move on what is happening in the West Bank. It was very clear from my visit there before this conflict erupted when I went to Jordan and spoke to refugees and spoke to a Bedouin family in Ramallah that had been displaced by settlers. I spoke to a young child whose school had been attacked by the settlers and the threats and intimidation were simply unacceptable. The level of support given by the Israeli Government to these settlers is also unacceptable. The Israeli Government would say to me that only a small minority is engaging in the aggression and violence but that is certainly not the perception on the ground in the West Bank. If we are to have a contiguous viable two-state solution, international pressure to stop what is going on in the West Bank is urgently required.

I welcome the comments of President Joe Biden in respect of the idea of travel bans on some of the settlers. It is the beginning of sanctions in relation to aggressive and violent settlement activity that has been happening in the West Bank for quite some time, particularly in Area C. We are talking about a very small territory here, and it is not viable that one would have independent pockets of Palestinian population because that constitutes a Palestinian state. It has to be a contiguous Palestinian state. All of this was worked out, as has been said, in previous agreements such as the Oslo Accords.

I am satisfied that the United States is doing everything it can to restrain Israel in the context of its activities. US Secretary of State Blinken is again in the region pushing hard for an extension to the truce but we need to keep pushing to make sure that it is a permanent ceasefire because, as every Deputy in the House has pointed out, the bombardment of Gaza is killing innocent children. It is killing innocent families and civilians. Given the scale and the type of weaponry and bombs being deployed, there can be no doubt but that the consequences of that is the killing of innocent people. The International Criminal Court is there. It is on the ground investigating. There is an urgent need for a permanent ceasefire.

Israel has a right to deal with Hamas because Hamas proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that the security concerns being articulated by Israel are very real in terms of the slaughter that happened in the various kibbutzim following the Hamas attack on 7 October. Ultimately, there may have to be some international dimension to providing for that security into the future in the event of a credible roadmap returning.

In answer the original question from Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan, internationally, there is a sense now that this cannot be let go again and that there has to be a sustained focus on trying to chart a way out of this horror some credible pathway to peace. That is what all of us are focused on to make the best contribution that we can. In response to Deputy Griffin, that is the approach that we are determined to take to avoid any further bloodshed. For instance, we need humanitarian aid on scale into Gaza now. Even prior to the conflict, it would not suffice. Therefore, we need much more. The only way one can do that is by a truce.

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