Kathleen Funchion (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

When we talk about the situation in Gaza and in Palestine, it is nearly getting to the stage where we run out of words to describe the horrors we are witnessing. For a lot of people the fact that this is televised and is not some historical war we are reading about in history books and we actually see this live on social media and television makes it very difficult for ordinary, decent people to understand how on earth Israel is still getting away with the horrific, disgusting acts of genocide it is engaged in.

At the end of December the official figure for the number of Palestinian children who have been killed in Gaza was 8,663. As we are almost into February, that figure has obviously risen. I will put it in context for people, because sometimes in this House when we talk about figures in any way, shape or form we can forget that behind those figures, every single person has their own story. For the county of Clare the population of children under the age of five is 8,803 and in Waterford the population of children under the age of five is 8,316. It is basically the equivalent of everybody under the age of five being wiped out. That is how many children have been killed to the end of December, so more children have been killed since then.

We know the UN has called the besieged Palestinian enclave a "graveyard for children" due to the high casualty figures. We also know that, according to UNICEF, approximately 1,000 children have had one or both legs amputated and often in unbelievable conditions that I do not think we can even contemplate in terms of no anaesthetic and no medicines being available. When we talk about this we should all think of our own children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews or whatever children we know in our lives. Can you imagine if they were left in that situation, whereby their choice was potentially losing a limb without correct medical care or death?

That is what the children of Palestine have been subjected to, so it is vital that Ireland stands shoulder to shoulder with the people of Palestine and that we put our names to this case. South Africa is to be commended on its action. It is important that we stand on the right side, fully support the Palestinian people and that we put our names to this case. That is what everybody in this country wants us to do as well. We have all been asked to ensure that we do this, so that it is not just empty words, but that we take action to show we want the slaughter and genocide to end.

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