Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)

At the weekend, I was in Nice for the United Nations Ocean Conference and took the opportunity to meet with a number of people in respect of this issue. The crew of the Madleen deserve our recognition. I pay tribute to their bravery and courage for profiling and keeping in the public and international spotlight the shocking situation in Gaza and the deprivation and starvation there. It brings to mind the absolute necessity and imperative of substantial aid being allowed in. I spoke to the King of Jordan and the foreign minister of Jordan, who are working flat out to try to get structured aid back into Gaza. I also engaged with the French Government and others on this issue.

I will attend a UN conference next week in New York, chaired by France and Saudi Arabia, in respect of a two-state solution.

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