Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. I agree with her wholeheartedly in that it is absolutely imperative and necessary that this war ends, that Israel stop its bombardment of Gaza and that there be an immediate ceasefire. We have appealed to the Israeli Government and to Hamas to facilitate a ceasefire. There have been intensive negotiations now for quite some time. What is happening to the civilian population of Gaza is an outrage, and what is happening to the children of Gaza in particular is absolutely beyond human comprehension.

The important issues of starvation and famine - which is man-made, as the Deputy has said - have exercised us considerably and has influenced our approach to a legal intervention in respect of the case before the International Court of Justice. Although the substantive memorial may not be filed by South Africa for quite some time, our legal team is working around the area of humanitarian deprivation and looking at how the definition of "genocide", in the context of the genocide convention, should be broadened. On our side, there is very serious legal work going on in that respect, and I just wanted to say that to the Deputy.

On recognition, I had a very good and lengthy conversation yesterday with the Spanish foreign minister, Mr. Albares, in respect of this issue, and I will have further discussions today with my Norwegian and Slovenian counterparts and others. We will be in a position, with others, to formally recognise the state of Palestine.

I will come back to the House following the conclusion of the discussions currently under way between like-minded member states of the EU and other countries that may also wish to take the opportunity, collectively, to do this, which I think would be impactful.

On the humanitarian side, our efforts have been effective in respect of support of UNRWA. The European Commission has released funding to UNRWA. We made very strong representations in that regard. Other countries have reversed their pauses and have started to fund UNRWA again. Most people we meet now accept the reality that without UNRWA there cannot be any widespread efforts to deal with the humanitarian situation and also the reconstruction of Gaza. The involvement of UNRWA will be vital to the latter.

On the Control of Economic Activity (Occupied Territories) Bill 2018, we raised at European Union level the EU-Israel association agreement and the degree to which the human rights clauses of that agreement have been fulfilled. Ireland and Spain together have sought a review from the European Commission in that regard. The legal advice we have received concerning the Bill is in relation to the European Union being the competent authority in respect of trade. Earlier this week, the Minister for Finance made an announcement in respect of divestment-----

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