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

I am extremely concerned by the start of Israel's ground offensive and military operation in Rafah. The international community has been clear that the humanitarian consequences of a large-scale offensive in Rafah would be catastrophic. I urge the parties to make every effort to come to an immediate ceasefire deal.

All hostages must be released and further civilian casualties must be avoided.

The question of recognition is one that has been the subject of ongoing consideration in line with the programme for Government. As I have previously stated, it is my intention to bring a formal proposal on recognition to the Government following the completion of discussions with international partners. We have had advanced discussions in the past number of weeks with a number of countries, including members of the Arab contact group. Specifically, I discussed the issue with the Jordanian and Egyptian foreign ministers and with a number of like-minded countries within Europe. We will continue those discussions this week with some other member states and non-member states. The specific timeline is near but fluid. The number of countries that may join is also fluid. Other countries will make decisions in accordance with their own timelines.

The entire context was around what we can do to support regional efforts to return things to a political pathway and create peace. We have worked with Arab members, including Jordan, Egypt, the Palestinian Authority, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, in terms of the Arab peace initiative, particularly around the question of recognition. We had hoped for a ceasefire and the publication of that initiative. Given the consistent efforts to undermine the two-state solution, it is now timely to deal with the recognition question. A recent meeting convened in Riyadh by Saudi Arabia and Norway, which was attended by Ireland, underlined the importance of taking concrete steps towards the realisation of a Palestinian state in the context of the two-state solution.

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