Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)

Táim ag díriú isteach ar mhuintir na Palaistíne agus an cinedhíothú atá ar siúl inár n-ainm fad is atáimid anseo ag caint agus briathra milse, bhreátha ag na hAirí gan beart ar bith. Inné sa chúirt, dúirt Blinne Ní Ghrálaigh, "Israel has closed all crossings and it has turned Rafah itself, once a refuge for almost 1.5 million displaced Palestinians, into a post-apocalyptic wasteland."

At the weekend alone, 52 people - children, women and men - were slaughtered in addition to the 51,000 Palestinians already killed, 70% of whom are women and children, and more than 120,000 Palestinians reported injured. Israel has systematically destroyed 95% of Gaza's hospitals and maternity clinics. The office for the co-ordination of humanitarian assistance told us that Israel began its blockade and since then not a single truck carrying food, fuel, medicine or any other essentials has been allowed in no matter how critical. Just in case the Taoiseach or we were in any doubt at all, the defence minister in Israel, Israel Katz, told us that Israel's policy is clear that "no humanitarian aid is about to enter Gaza." Preventing humanitarian aid to Gaza is one of the main tools of pressure. No one is going to get any aid. I have said repeatedly that I think the best thing for me to do would be to stand here in silence at what is happening in our name - genocide - while we use sweet words and do little else. We boast that we are better than any other country, and that measuring stick is really very low. Yesterday, again, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs stated that:

We know that people are thirsty ... We know that solid waste is piling up and ... people are trapped under the rubble ... [and living on the rubble]. We know that the land is shrinking with displacement orders ... [We know that] fishers [are being] shot at sea, and that nowhere is safe.

It said all of that. I will go on to what we see. It went on to state that "We have seen the images of children's bodies being thrown from one building to another due to the force of the bombing. We have seen the videos of families being burnt alive." These are the words of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, not mine. It continued, "We have seen the bodies of our colleagues who have been killed. We have seen the total and complete destruction of infrastructure in Gaza all around us. We have seen patients having to be turned away after a hospital has been bombed ... "

I wish I could go on. Will the Taoiseach please tell me what specific action he is going to take, including in respect of the occupied territories Bill, stopping trade with Gaza and inspecting planes at Shannon, at the very least, to make our words mean something?

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