Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)

There is a significant difference between Gaza and Ukraine. People cannot leave Gaza but they can leave Ukraine. The European Union decided that the temporary protection directive would be commenced in respect of individuals emanating from Ukraine. We also want to be careful in that we do not want to facilitate an Israeli policy of seeking to compulsorily move people out of Palestinian territory.

The statistics confirm that a lot has been done. Looking at the total number of visa applications received from Palestinian nationals since October 2023, which is the past two years, 1,700 have applied and we have granted over 1,000. A lot of visas are being granted to individuals who apply for visas from Palestine. It probably does require a broader international humanitarian response. There was a broader European response with Syria and Afghanistan but there are very particular issues arising given the Israeli policy of precluding people from leaving Gaza that have an impact on policy developed by European countries.

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