Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate. The overwhelming priority of the Irish Government is to continue to advocate for an immediate stop to the death and destruction in Gaza and to take relevant actions to this end. Through the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste, the Irish Government is doing everything it can to bring about an immediate, durable and sustainable humanitarian truce between Israel and Hamas. The only way to achieve this or any resolution for communities in Israel and Gaza is immediate de-escalation through regional and international diplomacy.

While Israel has the right to defend itself, I unequivocally condemn its deliberate infliction of all this death, injury, illness and suffering on the captive civilian population in Gaza. There is no justification for the collective punishment inflicted on the Palestinian people, with over 24,000 killed in Gaza in just three months. This includes more than 10,000 innocent children. I acknowledge our fellow Irish citizens' strength of feeling towards those who are oppressed in Gaza, the 1.9 million people who have been displaced, their homes and vital infrastructure, including educational facilities, destroyed. Starvation and famine are sweeping across Palestine and are being used by the Israelis as a weapon of war. Some 95% of the hungriest people in the world are now in Gaza. A lack of clean water and adequate sanitation and the collapse of the healthcare system is causing a public health disaster of contagious disease among nearly 2 million displaced Palestinians and 65% of the hospitals in Gaza are now shut, with the WHO warning of widespread death from preventable diseases.

The case for immediate ceasefire in Gaza is compelling and becomes clearer by the hour in light of the horrific and mounting death toll. Many around the world are calling for a ceasefire. Without an immediate ceasefire, more innocent children will die.

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