Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South-Central, Sinn Fein)

The occupied territories Bill still matters. It has always mattered. It mattered long before the last two and half - almost three - years of slaughter in Gaza. It was all the more important during that period. It is important that every state that wants to stand against a genocide uses whatever leverage it can. It mattered before that and it still matters because my position and that of the Irish Government and many other people is that we want to see a sustainable two-state solution. The Israeli Government is continuing its actions, even now, against the backdrop of a ceasefire. It is difficult to call it a "ceasefire" when hundreds of people have been killed by Israeli forces in the period. We have seen attacks on people by settlers. We have incursions and continued undermining of the two-state solution. It cannot be that we freeze here with the ceasefire, insofar as it is a ceasefire, and leave it at that. Clearly, we need to see pressure put on Israel to ensure that the two-state solution is made sustainable.

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