Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The credibility of the EU is at stake. There are more than 31,000 dead, 70% of them women or children, and 72,000 injured. These are just the figures we have at the minute – we do not know what they will increase to. António Guterres is right when he speaks about people facing catastrophic hunger, and that is even before the awaited ground invasion of Rafah. What would one expect from Netanyahu’s supremacist Israeli Government? It has told us what it is for. It has told us that it is absolutely against a Palestinian state. On some level, I think it is at times against the Palestinian people and even against the existence of the Palestinian people.

It is not the first time that slaughter and starvation have been used by supremacist regimes, but it is the first time I have seen it to this degree live on television. What are we doing about it? We all welcomed how, alongside Pedro Sánchez, the Taoiseach wrote to Ursula von der Leyen, but I have seen no moves to review the EU-Israel agreement and its humanitarian conditions. If Israel has not breached them, they must be the funniest humanitarian conditions of all time. Unfortunately, this is not that funny.

We have another European Council meeting. As weak and late as it would be, are we going to call for a ceasefire? Are we going to talk to some of our European neighbours? The likes of Germany and others have not only provided Israel political support, but also sold it weapons. Pressure must be maintained on America, but also on others.

What can we do? The finance committee is undertaking pre-legislative scrutiny of the Illegal Israeli Settlements Divestment Bill 2023. We can ensure that no Irish State money is involved in any company that benefits from illegal Israeli settlements. There is also the Control of Economic Activity (Occupied Territories) Bill 2018. We need to move on recognising the state of Palestine and see what takers we have.

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