Natasha Newsome Drennan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein)

So far today, over 40 Palestinians have been slaughtered by Israeli airstrikes. In the past two days, over 250 Palestinians have been killed. A large number of these people were murdered while seeking aid from aid stations. Even Israeli media is reporting accounts from soldiers operating near these stations that they are being ordered to shoot civilians seeking aid. In the West Bank, Israeli forces are evicting Palestinian families and demolishing their homes to make way for more illegal Israeli settlements. International law in the Middle East has been ripped to shreds by the Israeli Government.

War crimes are taking place daily, yet this Government and our EU counterparts have failed to find any backbone or take a stand against Israel. Worse, Ireland and the EU continue trading and doing business with Israel. The Government will not even stop arms being transported via Ireland. We saw decisive action against Russia over its illegal invasion of Ukraine and war crimes but even now, after all the slaughter of Palestinians, the EU still cannot unite to say enough is enough.

Tomorrow, the UN will publish a report naming companies that play a vital role in Israel's genocide in Gaza and its brutal apartheid system across Israel and the West Bank. Microsoft, Alphabet and Amazon give Israel, through their database, free reign to maintain surveillance across the police state. These companies have all eagerly recruited staff from Israeli military intelligence. Global insurance companies like Allianz and Axa have invested heavily in shares and bonds linked to Israel's occupation. These are household names in Ireland. As usual with large corporations, profit reigns supreme. They show little or no regard for human rights violations in business partnership.

The public stands with us. The overwhelming majority want the occupied territories Bill enacted. Even Government Members agree. Find some backbone, do what is right, enact the Control of Economic Activity (Occupied Territories) Bill and not the Government's watered-down version and put an end to arms being transported to Israel via Shannon Airport. People in Gaza are risking their lives to retrieve food. Israel is weaponising starvation to lure them in to kill them. Do they just sit in their tents and starve to death or die trying to get food? It is like putting cheese on a mousetrap. There is only way it is going to end.

This morning, I listened to a paediatrician on the radio. He spoke of women having children and how the children were born starving. The mothers are lucky to get fed once a day. The most natural thing for a baby is to get its mother's milk. The mothers cannot provide milk for their own children. These children and their parents are dying from starvation. They cannot even get the basic necessity - baby formula - in to save them. They have enough fuel to cook once a day if they are lucky enough to get something to eat. Imagine one's own children begging for food. Imagine what that is doing to people's mental health. It is shocking.

Albert Einstein said "The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything."

That is what is happening. We are not doing enough. Children are owed so much more than another day of this war. It is time to act.

See this speech in context