Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

For more than 100 days, the people of Gaza have endured a humanitarian horror of unimaginable scale, a genocide broadcast to the world in real time and inflicted upon an impoverished refugee population by the apartheid Israeli regime that is hell-bent on erasing the Palestinian nation from the face of the earth. This is not conjecture. The Israeli Government has not attempted to hide its objective. It has repeatedly, brazenly and to devastating effect told the world of and demonstrated its aim to slaughter the Palestinian people, crush any chance of a free Palestinian state and dismantle any hope of a two-state solution as mandated by UN resolution.

As recently as the weekend, Mr. Netanyahu stated his vision very plainly. He stated, "I will not compromise on full Israeli security control over the entire area in the west of Jordan – and this is contrary to a Palestinian state". It is right that his comments have been resoundingly condemned, for these are not the words of a person even contemplating the notion of peace. They are the words of a man following a dehumanising, supremacist and, frankly, deranged vision. Before the eyes of the world, Netanyahu is determined to continue a genocidal campaign in Gaza. It is a relentless barbaric assault that has seen more than 25,000 Palestinians slaughtered, including, as the Tánaiste said, thousands of women and children. The Israeli military is killing 250 Palestinians every day. Entire families and communities have been wiped out. Some 1.9 million people have been displaced. Gaza's civilian infrastructure has been obliterated, with schools and hospitals decimated by a ferocious military bombardment. The people of Gaza face starvation and the catastrophic spread of disease. These actions are not defensive; these actions are war crimes.

The intensity of Israel's bombardment continues mercilessly with the ongoing assault on the city of Khan Younis, where it again has attacked and laid to hospitals at which injured, sick and dying people are being treated. The people of Gaza are threatened with annihilation. That is the situation. It is to the very great shame of the international community that this atrocity is happening in full sight. Israel has been given free rein to commit war crimes against the Palestinian people with impunity. As the demand from ordinary people for a full and immediate ceasefire reverberates all across the globe, the Israeli regime thumbs its nose and continues its mass slaughter in Gaza. Why is that? It is because the weak response of world leaders has told Mr. Netanyahu and the Israeli Government and its military machine that they are untouchable and can shred international law without fear or consequence.

The Tánaiste billed what is before the House as a motion demanding a ceasefire. The word "ceasefire" does not appear in the motion. Where is it? The motion refers to "an immediate stop to the death and destruction in Gaza". Why the semantics? Why can the Tánaiste not just say the word "ceasefire"?

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