Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal East, Labour)

Given the slaughter, the genocide and the last 20 months of horror, to wake up to the news, as we did this morning, that perhaps there will be a 60-day ceasefire will be welcomed by most people. Of course we will welcome it if it happens but for a number of reasons it is hard to have confidence in a ceasefire in this conflict. One reason is that the person who announced it this morning, Donald Trump, has a poor record in foreign policy. I will come back to that a couple of times.

Let us consider the comments and reaction of Israel to this announcement. They are highly qualified. Is this actually going to happen? If there is to be a ceasefire, what will happen in that space? Will there be a ceasefire with negotiations to take place for a longer term ceasefire and proper peacebuilding? Are we going to see moves towards a two-state solution or recognition of the Palestinian State, as Ireland has done, and for that to become real? That sounds fantastical in the current context.

What will happen in relation to aid? The naming of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation is almost to troll the people of Gaza and the rest of the world. It is anything but a humanitarian foundation. It is a new departure in the provision of so-called aid. The weaponisation of aid to Gaza by Israel and the United States has been one of the foulest elements of this crisis. If there is to be a ceasefire, will we see the re-establishment of the traditional aid organisations? Will UNRWA be allowed to do its work again? Will the World Food Programme and other UN agencies and NGOs be able to go in and deliver aid and services as they have done for decades in Gaza? It would seem not, or at least it is unclear.

What we do know is that since March and the ending of aid into Gaza by Israel, we have seen a degree of psychopathy that is seldom seen in conflicts throughout history. It is the slaughter and murder of civilians while they are queuing for the meagre amounts of aid, food and medicines that are being offered. It is absolutely abhorrent. When we felt we could not be shocked any more, it was, I believe, the slaughter, murder and shooting of people queuing for aid that was key in turning the international mood music against Israel. It has not done enough. We have not seen real action from the big powers such as the United States or from the United Kingdom or Germany, the countries that are arming, and have been arming, the Israel Defense Forces, IDF, during this war and for decades previously. We have seen some shifts in those countries and Israel may have felt that. Perhaps this is what caused Israel to become concerned again about the Iranian nuclear programme as a way of trying to convince its traditional allies that Israel is somehow on the side of good, democracy and righteousness in the Middle East. Nothing could be further from the truth. What we know is that 50,000 Palestinians have been killed by the IDF and thousands more continue to be starved by the Israeli blockade.

We must always be clear that Israel has committed a genocide on the people of Gaza. I welcome that the Tánaiste has used that language consistently, including in his statement today, that Israel has committed a genocide. When we use that language the people and the regime that commit genocide must face consequences down the line. Cities in Gaza have been flattened, hospitals and schools targeted and destroyed and access to food, water and medical supplies cut off. It is not just access. The infrastructure to deliver water has been destroyed, as we in the foreign affairs committee were briefed on a couple of weeks ago. It will take many years to rebuild that. Ireland helped with funding and expertise to build that infrastructure in Gaza over the last number of years. This is another element of Ireland's commitment to the Palestinian people and the people of Gaza, of which we are proud, that is being destroyed by the bombs of Israel.

The coverage of Gaza and the war in Gaza has been subject to much criticism. I do not necessarily agree with all the criticism that has been heaped on various news organisations in this respect. I have, however, been disquieted by what has happened to the arts community, including Kneecap and Bob Vylan and what happened at Glastonbury. Moving to try to silence artists and how they express themselves, whatever our own opinions may be and whether or not we agree with what they say, is a dangerous space to be in. As Kneecap said, this is not the issue. They are just giving voice - one voice, their voice - to the suffering of the people of Gaza and if media and journalistic bodies continue down the route of following these artists around and picking apart every little thing they say or do, it will result in less coverage being applied to the conflict, war and genocide in Gaza. While this is happening, we are not focusing on the 30 people in Gaza that were killed in a café by Israel or the more than 400 people murdered in cold blood queuing for aid in the last weeks. Our focus needs to be absolutely steadfast. The people of Gaza and the Palestinians have faced unending devastation from the Israeli Government.

It is another disgrace that Israel and the United States have created their own private body to control aid distribution in Gaza. I remember studying the proliferation of private security and military companies. The Iraq war was when we had an explosion in the number of these private security companies, which emerged as a big economy in the 1990s. Obviously they have existed for centuries. The Iraq war was when the proliferation of these companies exploded. What has changed now is that these private security companies have become systemic in the provision of aid. This is a departure that none of us ever contemplated. None of us who study private security companies and their role in active warfare and logistical support ever contemplated that these companies would, in such a big way, replace the United Nations, the World Food Programme and other trusted aid agencies and multilateral organisations that provide aid to people. It will be a hugely concerning and worrying departure if this template is used for any future conflicts. We will have the weaponisation of medicines, basic foodstuffs and aid. We in Ireland hold aid very dear. I am proud of the fact that Ireland is one of the few countries that have not cut aid.

Many European countries have cut aid or have put increased restrictions on aid, or in the case of the United States, have stopped aid. Ireland has increased aid, which we, the Irish people, are very proud of. The fundamental principle of humanitarian aid is that it must be neutral, impartial and based solely on need. International humanitarian law mandates unfettered access to civilians in conflict zones. Israel is stopping this unfettered access. Israel is conducting a siege and a bombing campaign, backed by the United States, which has made unfettered access impossible. Nowhere is the failure of the IDF-controlled aid system more stark than in the ongoing killing of civilians. Reading about the slaughter taking place in the queues for aid is something that I cannot get out of my head. I do not think many of us can. We have seen this throughout history, where the most vulnerable are lined up in condensed settings, set upon by psychopaths, and killed in cold blood. Israel must never be allowed to forget this and the country must be brought to justice for it.

What we have seen in Gaza is not a humanitarian response; it is an illusion of one. We hear from IDF spokespersons that the IDF does not target civilians, but we know that it does. We hear that Israel provides aid to the people of Gaza, but we know that it does not. Anyone listening to "Morning Ireland" this morning would have heard exactly the meagre rations people have to try to eke out survival in Gaza.

Israel has spread complete chaos in the Middle East in the past 20 months. The renewed conflict with Iran is just the latest example of a state that is completely out of control. To be clear, there is no good guy or bad guy when it comes to Iran and Israel, but Israel did start by launching missiles into Iran, even though all intelligence reports indicated that Iran was still some years away from developing a nuclear weapons programme. We know that Iran has been less than transparent about its nuclear weapons programme. It is clear to me that Iran is seeking to develop a nuclear weapon. We know that there was a successful plan, orchestrated by the former US President, Barack Obama. This was the joint comprehensive plan of action between Iran, China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union. It was successful between 2015 and 2018 in getting rid of all the medium-enriched uranium in Iran and reducing the low-enriched uranium to negligible amounts. Then, in 2018, in what is the greatest foreign policy blunder of the past ten years, President Donald Trump, in his first term, abandoned the plan. This allowed Iran to renew its nuclear programme. Iran has remained inside the nuclear non-proliferation treaty regime, albeit not totally transparently and not always allowing weapons inspectors in. It has been a contentious relationship over many years but at least the country is in the regime. Israel is not in the nuclear non-proliferation treaty regime. The country has had nuclear weapons since the 1960s and is outside any weapons inspection programme. It acts as a law unto itself, not just regarding nuclear weapons, but in all aspects of international policy and relations.

The successful agreement with Iran allowed the IAEA huge amounts of access to ensure Iran was co-operating. This has now ended and now we hear that Iran will not be co-operating with the IAEA. This is hugely disappointing and hugely concerning for the long-term stability of the Middle East. We also hear from leaked intelligence reports that the damage to Iran's nuclear facilities was not as complete as President Trump would like us to believe. The probability of further conflict, instability, missiles and death and destruction in the medium to long term is quite likely.

We have huge concerns about a ceasefire in Gaza, because we have no commitments that real aid will be delivered by trusted organisations that know how to deliver it. We are not seeing any plans for a high-level recommitment to a long-term peace strategy for Palestine and a road to statehood for the Palestinian people. This is Irish foreign policy and the belief of the Irish people. I think it is the belief of the large majority of people in Europe, even if many of our partner governments in the European Union have been too staunchly supportive of Israel.

When it comes to nuclear disarmament, Ireland has proud role in promoting it. Ireland was the first signatory to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and it can continue to play a role in striving towards a nuclear-weapon free world. The instability in the Middle East has many causes but the biggest impediment is the State of Israel. It operates outside so many international conventions, treaties and norms. It is inflicting a continuous genocide on the people of Gaza. It kills in cold blood Gazans who are queueing for aid. It launches unprovoked attacks on states such as Iran, and the Iranians are no angels either. I am sure that Iran will continue to fund and arm its proxies, Hezbollah, the Houthis and Hamas.

While I welcome the opportunity to speak on this topic, it is utterly depressing that we, here on the western edge of Europe, remain commentators on what is the biggest tragedy on the globe at the moment, namely, the regional conflict in the Middle East. This is being most acutely felt by the civilians of Gaza, who face death, slaughter and genocide on a daily basis. It must end. There needs to be a road to a true, viable, Palestinian state and long-term sanctions need to be imposed on the State of Israel. It cannot be allowed to continue to act outside of international norms.

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