Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)

I thank the Labour Party and Deputy Smith for bringing forward this motion today. I thank them for the constructive way in which they are approaching the most horrific, appalling situation in Gaza and the Middle East, and I mean that. I approach this debate, and respectfully suggest we should all approach it, by moving beyond the mantra of "Government good, Opposition bad" or "Opposition good, Government bad". It does not get us anywhere. There is not anybody in this House, regardless of political background, or anyone in this country who is not horrified and haunted by the scenes Deputy Sherlock rightly mentioned in relation to young children and babies. There is no one in this House who wishes to deliver well-meaning statements.

There is a whole array of people, including hundreds upon hundreds of people in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the European Union, embassies across the world and the United Nations, mandated by this Government and House to speak up and speak out for our values and to use every possible lever. They are doing that and they are doing this country, a small country, extraordinarily proud. I thank them for their work.

It is right that we take every opportunity we can in this House to consider what further actions we can take to help press for peace and to end the onslaught on the people of Gaza. Day after day, for almost 600 days, we have witnessed the horrors escalate before our very eyes to the dismay of the Irish people, who cannot fathom the seeming incapacity of the world to bring this injustice, suffering and death to an end and work towards a lasting peace.

I am proud that we live in a country where there is generally a shared perspective and the overarching approach we take is based on the clear view of the Irish people that we must do everything in our power to act against the barbarity of this brutal offensive. While this is true in Ireland, it is regrettable that it is only much too belatedly that a more united voice is being found among the international community in response to the war crimes and genocidal activity that we are witnessing.

I want to clearly restate this country's position. We unequivocally condemn the terror attacks by Hamas in Israel on 7 October 2023. We unequivocally condemn the taking of hostages by Hamas, and we have repeatedly called for their release and repeat that call today. We are clear that Hamas has brought nothing but death and suffering to the people of Palestine and the people of Israel and offer them no future. That is not just my view. That is the view of the President of the Palestinian Authority. We condemn in the strongest possible way the continuing Israeli military operations in Gaza and abhor Israel's clear plans to not only persist but to go further, to starve, to displace, to kill, and to reoccupy.

We call on Israel to fully lift the blockade it has imposed and allow for unimpeded access of humanitarian aid at scale into Gaza. People are starving in Gaza today for one reason only, namely, that the Israeli Government will not let the aid trucks that are in Jordan into Gaza. Thousands upon thousands of trucks, including trucks paid for by Irish taxpayers, are sitting there. The Irish taxpayer-funded trucks have enough food for more than 6,000 people in Gaza. They have been waiting for four months to get into Gaza. The entire population of Gaza is facing high levels of food insecurity. It is on the verge of a famine, with one in five - 500,000 people - facing starvation. This is evil beyond words.

We cry out for urgent efforts to ensure an immediate ceasefire. The Government has been and will continue to be proactive in seeking to achieve all of these objectives and has objectively shown leadership at the international level, both in addressing the immediate situation and in creating the conditions for a just and lasting peace, as we should, because the situation in Gaza is one of unprecedented gravity. The images and reports that are emerging on a daily basis are dreadful and horrifying to behold - of people starving, children dying, malnourished babies, those taking shelter in tents subjected to aerial bombing, bombed-out schools and hospitals, a vast wasteland of rubble where homes and houses once stood, and the basic requirements for human life and human dignity expunged under relentless attack. The urgency of the need for peace could not be clearer. The need for action could not be clearer.

The Government will not just not oppose the motion, but will work constructively with the Labour Party and this House on how we advance it. Some elements under consideration today are already being addressed by existing initiatives at UN level, including within the framework of the uniting for peace Resolution 377, in which I am proud that Ireland is playing lead a role. The motion asks the Government to call for a new emergency special session of the UN General Assembly, which I consider to be a constructive request and will act on. I hope that colleagues opposite will welcome that there is already an emergency special session dedicated to the situation in the occupied Palestinian territory. This is the tenth emergency special session, which was established under the uniting for peace resolution. It has been resumed more than 20 times since it was established, including on six occasions since the outbreak of the latest horrific war.

At the resumed tenth emergency session on 24 and 26 October 2023, this country was among the first in the world to call for a ceasefire. This contributed to momentum towards the eventual call by the General Assembly for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in a resolution adopted by an overwhelming majority in December 2023. At the resumed session in May 2024, shortly before Ireland recognised the State of Palestine exactly one year ago today, Ireland strongly supported a resolution to upgrade Palestine's rights at the UN as an observer state and urged the Security Council to give consideration to Palestine’s request for full membership.

Next month, a high-level conference on Palestine and the two-state solution will be held at the UN, chaired by France and Saudi Arabia. This conference was mandated by way of a resolution tabled by Palestine and adopted at the reconvened emergency special session on 18 September 2024. Ireland has been asked by the co-chairs to play a central role at this conference, where we will co-chair one of the working groups, together with Türkiye. The conference will focus on topics central to the two-state solution, including the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the delivery of aid, Palestinian institutions and state building, governance and security arrangements, and how to promote peace and reconciliation. Ireland will co-chair the working group on preserving the two-state solution. For these reasons, the UN conference next month is Ireland’s overriding focus at a UN level. This is also the focus of Palestine and our like-minded partners.

I want to be clear about what the uniting for peace resolution can and cannot do. The uniting for peace resolution, which the Labour motion rightly refers to, dates from the time of the Korean War in the 1950s. The reality is that only once in 70 years, back in 1956, has the resolution been used to establish a peacekeeping force. This was under very specific circumstances at the time, in which all the parties and the key members of the Security Council were in agreement. Sadly, similar circumstances do not exist today. That is not a reason to not try but I just want to say that. There is a reason why it has not been used for this purpose since then. The General Assembly can only recommend action, but such recommendations only become binding when the UN Security Council compels action, which it has failed to do. While it may be possible to envisage a role for the UN peacekeeping mission, with the agreement of the parties and Palestine and backed by the UN Security Council, I want to be objectively clear that the conditions do not exist today.

This is not to say that the UN General Assembly does not have a role to play. It clearly does. That is not to say we should not seek its special convening as per the Labour Party's motion. Consideration of any issue by the General Assembly is a significant indication of its importance to the international community and an opportunity for each member state to speak in defence of the protection of the fundamental values of United Nations. The fact that Palestine can now table its own resolutions, and has done so, is also significant and helpful. Ireland is working closely with international partners to bolster efforts to implement the two-state solution, including through meetings of the global alliance for the implementation of the two-state solution. The fifth meeting of that alliance took place in Morocco on 20 May. Ireland also participated at the weekend in a meeting of the Madrid group of Arab, Islamic and European countries in an expanded format for a discussion on how to advance implementation of the two-state solution ahead of the UN conference next month. The meeting included a number of additional European countries, I am pleased to say, including for the first time France, Germany and the UK, as well as Brazil.

Last week's decision at the Foreign Affairs Council, when a clear majority of EU member states finally agreed to review the EU-Israel association agreement, was an important step forward. It was a recognition that Ireland's position was right. It came far too late, though, and we in Ireland believe that the agreement should be suspended pending the outcome of that review. We want to use all levers available to the EU to bring about change. It is my view that the agreement should be suspended pending that review.

Our position on this situation is grounded in two simple principles: respect for international law and respect for human rights. We remain convinced that the implementation of the two-state solution is the only way to establish lasting peace and security for Palestine, Israel and the wider region. Today marks 12 months to the day since Ireland’s recognition of the State of Palestine, together with Spain and Norway, and followed closely by Slovenia. We now see the question of recognition at the centre of international debate. The decision we took a year ago contributed to this positive change. I welcome the announcement by Malta that it will recognise Palestine next month. I encourage all other states, including many of our EU partners, to now take that step. Let the people of Palestine know you see them and you hear them. For a couple of large EU member states to take that step would be extremely significant. If people believe in two states, they have to recognise that two states exist.

Here at home, we are working on advancing the occupied Palestinian territories Bill. Regarding services, I will keep saying that I do not have a policy difference with people who want to include services. I want to make sure that the law does not fall at the first legal hurdle. I am happy to be challenged and to be proven wrong at the Oireachtas foreign affairs committee about this issue. I want to work constructively with Deputies on this. I am working constructively with Senator Black. We will forward that legislation to the foreign affairs committee next month for scrutiny. Let us work intensively to make progress. This most horrific situation has gone on for far too long. The Labour Party motion is a constructive step that this House can take today.

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