Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Ahead of the previous European Council meeting, many contributors in the House warned of the potentially catastrophic consequences of the Israeli Government's planned incursion into Rafah. After an operation in which more 1 million people have been displaced, the Israeli Prime Minister expressed his hope that the ground operation in Rafah would be completed soon. He is moving on regardless. Following Ireland's decision to recognise the State of Palestine, he treated our ambassador unacceptably and tried to use his twisted logic to use our decision as a further excuse to threaten settlements in the occupied West Bank. The European Council must take a stronger approach than it has done on this. At previous Council meetings, there was no condemnation of Israel, which only provided space and time for Netanyahu to continue to flout international law and perpetrate war crimes with little or no consequence. We saw more of that his week with the footage of a Palestinian man strapped to the front of an army jeep.

Now that we have recognised the State of Palestine, it is time for that sentiment to be reflected at EU level. Ursula von der Leyen has presided over a disastrous misrepresentation of the EU on the actions of Israel, yet some in the House will still support her. Those representatives need to consider this position and instead urge their colleagues to focus on the EU-Israeli agreement, sanctions, and the options open to us to tackle the genocide happening in Gaza, rather than give their backing to someone who gives Netanyahu the room he needs to carry on regardless.

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