Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The death toll in Gaza has now risen to 33,500 people, according to the ministry of health there. That means that, appallingly, about 1,500 more people have died since the Tánaiste and I were last here for Leaders’ Question before Easter. The devastation from the ongoing bombardment and besiegement of Gaza is unthinkable, and children are dying in such numbers. Many children are suffering from malnutrition and dehydration in Gaza. This is not due to natural disasters or drought; their hunger is man-made. As we know, the Israeli Government is shamefully using famine as a weapon of war against a civilian population already on its knees. This is just one of the war crimes in the collective punishment of innocent Gazans that Israel has been carrying out since the awful Hamas attack on 7 October.

The Israeli Government is stopping aid from entering the besieged Gaza Strip, and we have seen the killing of aid workers who are on the ground trying to help a desperate population. We all know that this is a catastrophic situation. Without a ceasefire, there can be no end to the catastrophe and the devastation, let alone progress towards a peaceful two-state solution.

On Tuesday, the Tánaiste indicated to the House that he will bring a formal proposal on recognition of the state of Palestine. That is a welcome move. I welcomed it on Tuesday, and I do so again. It is the most recent in what we acknowledge is a series of positive moves by Cabinet. We need to see recognition of Palestinian statehood. We need to defend humanitarian law in the International Court of Justice and other international courts. We must ensure that organisations like UNRWA can continue their important work in Gaza and we must exhaust every possible means of bringing the bloodshed to an end. We all agree on that.

I call on the Tánaiste to move the position of Cabinet on another related issue. Will the Government commit to passing the occupied territories Bill in order that we can see the imposition of meaningful trade sanctions on the brutal Netanyahu regime? I remind the House that the occupied territories Bill was introduced for a Second Stage debate here by Fianna Fáil TDs. The Israeli Government’s contempt for international law requires countries like ours take stronger actions to compel compliance, actions like passage of trade sanction Bills such as the occupied territories Bill.

We understand that Government opposition to the passage of the Bill is apparently based on legal advice from the Attorney General's office. What is that advice, and why has it not changed since the outset of the brutal war? Article 24 of the EU regulation on imports from non-member states allows for bans on the importation of goods on grounds of public morality, public policy, or the protection of health and life of humans. That same exception applies under Article 36 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union regarding goods in circulation within the EU. Some 35,000 people are dead and war crimes are being committed in plain view. I cannot see how a ban on the importation of goods does not fall under these grounds. We are seeing civilians, journalists, aid workers and children being killed in their thousands - actions clearly repugnant to public morality and protection of life. Alongside recognition of the state of Palestine, will the Tánaiste commit to facilitating the passage of the occupied territories Bill? All of us across the Opposition will work with the Government to see it passed.

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