Malcolm Byrne (Wicklow-Wexford, Fianna Fail)

With others in this House, and I am quite certain people right across the entire country, we share the horror of what we have been seeing going on in Gaza and across the Middle East. The denial of humanitarian aid to citizens is, as the Taoiseach rightly said, a war crime. The fact that we are now hearing evidence, as Deputy Duncan Smith has said, from a number of trusted humanitarian organisations which this country has always stood by shows the sheer depravity of what is going on within Gaza. As Deputy Sheehan has said, this can all be traced back to Benjamin Netanyahu. Even within Israel, there are now many voices speaking out against what is happening. Yair Golan, an opposition leader and a former deputy chief of staff of the Israeli army, stated this week, “A sane country does not fight civilians, does not kill children as a hobby, and does not aim to expel populations." It is very clear that the Netanyahu government is engaged in a bloodthirsty action that will continue to have serious consequences for many years to come and we need to do everything we can to stop it.

There will be long-term scars, obviously for the families of the innocents who have been killed but equally for those who have been taken hostage by Hamas and have now spent 587 days in captivity. There are short-term challenges but our obligation, when we talk in this House about what more can we do, is to illustrate what that can be.

Yes, the immediate ceasefire has to be our top priority and every pressure needs to be brought to bear. I commend the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste on their work. The strong stance that has been taken by countries like Ireland, Spain and, indeed, Slovenia is finally being listened to by some of our European colleagues. For instance, the fact it was the Netherlands that brought forward the proposal to review arrangements with Israel at EU level shows that we are finally being listened to at a European level but the decision was only reached on the basis of a qualified majority vote. There are still nine member states that are not happy to enter into this, so there must still be a process of persuasion at a European level.

A critical point is that we, as a country, have always supported the principles of multilateralism and of engaging at EU and UN levels, and the evidence has shown consistently that this is what works. Ireland going it alone does not work. The way that we, along with Spain and Norway recognised, and rightly so, Palestine as a state, was the right thing to do. It stands to this House and to the late Brian Lenihan senior who, as early as the 1970s and in the 1980s, as the then Minister for Foreign Affairs, called for the recognition of the Palestinian state.

In our search for peace we need to move to where we go after this and to how we can guarantee the horrors we see now - and we have to stop them - can never happen again. How can we build some sort of trust among those parties within the Middle East? I believe that can only be done with the removal of the Netanyahu government but that is a matter for the Israeli people. I believe if an election were to happen, that would be what would happen. I also believe that can be done with the removal of Hamas, because they do not serve the Palestinian people either. It is in the interests of the ordinary Palestinian people that we must continue to speak out.

It is critical that when peace comes about, and there will be a requirement for a multilateral force to engage in peace maintenance, or peacekeeping, that Ireland will contribute towards that peacekeeping initiative. We, in this country, have a very proud peacekeeping tradition, as everyone knows. However, I would say that if at the UN Security Council there is an attempt by the United States to veto any form of peacekeeping, if a multilateral peacekeeping mission is sought, then we should support it. We should work with those other members states with which we have so proudly stood in calling out these horrors and we should take an active part.

I believe we should listen to the peacemakers within the region. I am glad Ireland has engaged with the peace initiative of the former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and the former Palestinian foreign minister, Nassir al-Kidwa, where they have come up with a potential long-term solution which includes the recognition of the Palestinian state on the basis of the 1967 borders with certain land swaps, and immediate Israeli withdrawal, the move to elections in the West Bank and Gaza within 24 to 36 months and the establishment of an Arab peacekeeping force with engagement with Israel to ensure Israel's security. It is not just good enough to seek a ceasefire; we have to seek a long-term possibility for peace within this region. That will require us to ensure the people of Palestine and the people of Israel can live side by side well into the future.

It will be very important that we recognise the dangerous role of Iran in the region and that it is called out for its continuing support for Hamas and Hezbollah and as a global centre for cyberattacks. I do not believe we can simply divorce the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from what is happening in the broader region. We need to ensure we try to seek peace between all countries and all peoples within that region.

It is very important that we start to work with other countries towards a plan for the rebuilding of Gaza. Everyone knows the appalling state it has now been left in as a result of Israeli actions but it will be important that nation is rebuilt. Palestine will rebuild. It must be led by the Palestinian people but Ireland, working with our European and other partners, needs to set out a plan on how we can invest in providing support for the infrastructure, for the rebuilding of hospitals and schools, and for putting in a democratic structure that is in the best interests of the Palestinian people. Our immediate focus must continue to be on the ceasefire and on securing peace but I believe that in the long run Ireland can play an important role, learning from the experiences of our own peace process, in building confidence between the peoples of Palestine and Israel.

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