Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I warmly welcome the Palestinian ambassador and everyone in the Gallery. I am proud to stand here with the Palestinian flag raised outside as we officially recognise the State of Palestine. It is more important than ever that we take a stand as a country to make our support for the people of Palestine clear.

I was struck by the words of Charlotte Phillips, a Palestinian footballer who played in the recent game with Bohemians in Dalymount. As she stood on the pitch with thousands of Palestinian flags waving and chants filling the stadium, she stated: “They thought they could get rid of us, and they can't - this is proof of our existence.”

The simple things we take for granted, such as the ability to fly our flag, sing our anthem and express our culture and nationality proudly and openly, are out of reach for millions of Palestinians. As the very existence of Palestine is under threat, it is essential we do everything in our power to assist the Palestinian people in their time of need.

Today as we stand in this Chamber, Israeli tanks are entering Rafah. According to Israel, Rafah was a safe zone. Because of that, more than 1 million people were displaced there. Now it is a battleground like everywhere in Gaza because nowhere is safe. There is no safety from disease, famine or Israeli missiles.

On Sunday, Israel bombarded a refugee camp in Rafah, killing at least 45 people. Many of those who died were burned alive inside their tents. The images of families desperately trying to save each other from the enormous flames, of charred bodies and of maimed children are some of the most horrific to emerge from these eight months of relentless slaughter. These images should be seared into the memory of every person and every government who has excused and facilitated this genocide.

Israeli claims that this attack was a tragedy and that they will investigate how it happened are barely worth acknowledging. We already know what the conclusion of this so-called investigation will be because it will be the same as every other investigation into the murder of Palestinians by Israel: it was a mistake, they were aiming at Hamas, this will not happen again - until it does and the exact same excuses are churned out over and over again. Worst of all, these pathetic excuses will be accepted by their allies. Germany has not even waited for the Israeli investigation to take place before declaring it a mistake. Meanwhile, Germany continues to supply Israel with weapons. German military exports to Israel have increased tenfold.

For too long the international community’s reaction to conflicts like this is to defer to America but the Americans will not act to stop Israel’s carnage. Joe Biden has made it clear that there is no red line for Israel. There is no action Israel can take that will stop America from arming and funding this genocide.

The ICJ has called on Israel to immediately halt its military offensive in Rafah but the call is falling on deaf ears. This is a real test for the concept of the EU as a peace project and a force for good; it is a test that it is currently spectacularly failing. EU leaders must ask themselves whether they respect human rights, the Genocide Convention, the Geneva Convention and the independence of the ICJ and ICC.

The unprecedented ICC decision to seek arrest warrants for Israeli Government and Hamas leaders speaks to the enormity of Israel’s war crimes in Gaza. The Israeli Government is doing everything it can to avoid accountability. The Guardian reported today that the former head of Mossad threatened a chief prosecutor of the ICC and tried to pressure her into abandoning a war crimes investigation. According to accounts shared with ICC officials, he is alleged to have told her:

You should help us and let us take care of you. You don’t want to be getting into things that could compromise your security or that of your family.

The recognition of the State of Palestine is welcome and long overdue but it must be the first step of many. We cannot maintain normal diplomatic and trade relationships with a country committing a genocide before our eyes. We need to push harder to suspend the EU-Israel trade agreement. We need to stop Ireland’s export of dual-use technology to Israel. We need to enact the Illegal Israeli Settlement Divestment Bill and the occupied territories Bill. We need to do absolutely everything in our power and use every lever to stop this genocide, even if we have to act alone.

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