Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

TDs and Senators are free to make up their own minds on these matters. I will not be attending. I have a long-standing and prior commitment to attend the Christmas carol service in the seminary in Maynooth this evening and that is the event I will be attending. It is up to other people to decide what they want to do this evening.

I restate my belief that the current crisis in Gaza is unbearable. The provision of more offensive weapons for Israel, Hamas or any other protagonist in this conflict is not part of the solution. The death toll is now truly shocking, estimated at around 18,000 people, with 1.9 million people displaced. It is difficult to know when we last saw military suffering on this scale. Perhaps it was the Iraq war or the war in Syria. Some people suggest not since the Vietnam war have we seen such violence being inflicted on a civilian population. The UN Secretary General and humanitarian agencies say we are facing an imminent humanitarian catastrophe which could involve starvation and the spread of diseases we have not seen in this country since medieval times.

There must be an immediate and sustainable humanitarian ceasefire. The relentless bombings and the killing of innocent civilians must end. Ireland has condemned the attack by Hamas and other militant groups on Israel and the devastating loss of life it caused. We restate that condemnation. There was no excuse for it. While Israel has the right to defend itself, it must be exercised within the parameters of international humanitarian law and we do not believe this is happening.

On Monday I co-signed a letter with the Prime Ministers of Spain, Belgium and Malta to European Council President Charles Michel, asking for the EU to call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. I will press that case at the European Council on Thursday and Friday. The Tánaiste did so at the Foreign Affairs Council yesterday and also sought that the European Commission examine the EU-Israel Association Agreement given the severity of the crisis, with particular regard to the human rights clause, recognising that any proposal to suspend the agreement would require consensus or unanimity at EU level. Most EU member states have called for additional sanctions against Hamas, which we support. Many other member states have called for sanctions and travel bans against violent settlers in the West Bank, and we have joined those calls as well. More than 250 people have been killed in the West Bank since early October. The West Bank is not controlled by Hamas. Those deaths are at the hands of Israel and should not have happened.

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