Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Byrne, for sharing his time with me and allowing me to contribute to this really important discussion. It is clear that we are witnessing war crimes every single day. Every day when we turn on our TV, open our phones and our newspapers, we can be in no doubt that what we are witnessing is a brutal war on children unfolding before our eyes. Every time we think things cannot get any worse and that there are no more lines to cross, we are proven wrong. The UN has told us that 14,000 children will die of starvation in the next two days, or less, because it made that statement yesterday. That is 14,000 innocent children on top of the 15,000 who have already been killed, murdered, in Gaza. That is on top of the 34,000 who have been injured. These are innocent children and innocent families who are living through hell, experiencing unimaginable pain, hunger, suffering and loss.

For 11 weeks, not a single ounce of aid has been allowed to enter Gaza. This is a deliberate action from Israel to simply deny people access to food, medicine and basic painkillers. The meagre amount of aid that has been allowed to enter Gaza this week will not change the fates of so many people who are facing starvation, who are injured, who require immediate medical attention, and the doctors and humanitarian workers who are risking everything to help those who need it the most. We saw only in the last few minutes a confirmation that Irish diplomats and other diplomats have been shot at in the West Bank by Israeli soldiers.

Ireland will not stand by. We are working on a daily basis with our colleagues in the EU. We have consistently called for a review of the EU-Israel Association Agreement. We welcomed the move yesterday but it has not happened fast enough. We recognised Palestine almost a year ago. We have increased our contributions to UNRWA when others turned away and we will legislate for the goods imported from occupied territories. Above all, Ireland will not be silent. The suffering we are seeing, the bombardment of children and the innocent people of Gaza at the hands of Israel who are living in pure unadulterated hell as we stand here today is beyond comprehension. We need an urgent ceasefire. We need to see the release of all hostages. Above all, we need to see the full flow of aid and we need to see it now.

See this speech in context