Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South-Central, Sinn Fein)
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5. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade his response to the latest Israeli offensive against the occupied West Bank. [4846/25]

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South-Central, Sinn Fein)
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We touched on this briefly. It is a grave situation. The Israeli Prime Minister is threatening to end the ceasefire and reopen a conflict that has claimed the lives of tens of thousands of people. Hamas is threatening not to release hostages. Both threats are to be condemned. It is a very worrying situation.

My question relates to the West Bank. I invite the Minister’s commentary in relation to that because off the back of the ceasefire there was almost a sense that the world was looking the other way. Much has been happening in the West Bank that is unacceptable as well as breaches of the ceasefire in Gaza.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy. I reiterate my strong concerns as to where we find ourselves in relation to the ceasefire agreement that is fragile. It is so important that all parties to that ceasefire agreement adhere to its terms. It is absolutely vital that Hamas releases the hostages and that Israel continues to observe the ceasefire. A return to violence and to conflict is almost unimaginable in terms of the scale of devastation it could bring at a time when we are finally beginning to see humanitarian aid getting into Gaza. That needs to be the focus. That is where Ireland's focus will continue to be, on speaking up and speaking out in favour of a ceasefire, peace and ultimately a two-state solution.

I will travel to the Munich Security Conference in the coming days and meet with the Palestinian Prime Minister, the Jordanian foreign minister, the Egyptian foreign minister and other actors in the region to continue to make that case and do all that we can to help. I am deeply concerned by the large-scale military operations conducted by Israel in the West Bank in recent weeks, in particular in Jenin, Tulkarm and Tubas, with the stated objective of suppressing militant groups. I am concerned about the use of air strikes and other disproportionate measures resulting in casualties, damage to civilian infrastructure and the displacement of many thousands of Palestinian people. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, has made it clear that Israeli forces' operations in the occupied West Bank need to abide by international human rights standards on the use of force; these standards remain regardless of the motivation of the operation. I share doubts expressed regarding the appropriateness of this type of military response, to put it mildly. I also question the wisdom of undertaking operations of this scale at a time when efforts are focused on the implementation of the ongoing ceasefire and the hostage release deal.

The shocking rise in settler violence that we have witnessed over recent months is also of deep concern. I welcome that the European Union has adopted successive rounds of sanctions against violent Israeli settlers under its global human rights sanctions regime. We have seen more instances of settler violence in recent weeks and it is important that further listings are also considered.

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South-Central, Sinn Fein)
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The sanctions that have been there are necessary but it is vitally important the EU as a whole politically raises its concerns. I urge the Minister in his role to encourage the EU to make strong statements against what has been happening in the West Bank since 30 January. UNRWA no longer has any contact with the Israeli authorities because of their ban. It has made it impossible for UNRWA - a UN agency, lest we forget - to raise concerns about civilian suffering in the Palestinian territory which is putting the lives of Palestinian refugees and UNRWA staff at risk. I welcome the increase in funding by the Irish Government. I said last week I do not have a problem recognising where the Government does the right thing. I said that last week. That does not mean that I will not say if I am dissatisfied with certain areas, but I have said it recently.

What is happening there at the minute where some 40,000 people have been evacuated in recent times and the scale of movement from the West Bank in the context of the violence is very considerable and is not properly getting the attention internationally that it ought to.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy is right. We will absolutely continue to speak out in relation to this at an EU level and at every possible forum we have because we have seen more instances of settler violence in recent weeks. While I have welcomed the fact that the EU has adopted successive rounds of sanctions against violent Israeli settlers, it is really important that further listings are considered and that further action is taken. It is also important that at an EU level we finally see happening something for which Ireland has been calling for a long time and that there is a meeting in regard to the EU-Israel Association Agreement. I am pleased to say that that meeting will take place this month in Brussels. I expect to be in attendance at it. In March there will be engagement between the European Union and Palestine. It is important that we have those two engagements because Ireland continues to do all we can, or at least continues to debate here what we can do at a bilateral level and at a national level. However, working at a European level on this issue is vital too.

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South-Central, Sinn Fein)
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I agree with that. I welcome that meeting in relation to the association agreement which is something we have been raising here for the past two years or more. I will return to the debate we had earlier to make the point that for a long time the issue has been the challenge in trying to hold Israel to the norms of international law. It has acted with impunity and because of that has breached international law further. The settlements are contrary to international law. The International Court of Justice, ICJ, made a very clear declaration on that. The ICJ did not make any distinction between goods and services. The Minister gave me something of an answer earlier, so I will now ask why. Why is it the case that the Irish Government no longer wishes to pursue a ban on services from the occupied territories, including the West Bank?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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What I have clearly said in relation to the Irish Government's position is that we will bring forward legislation in relation to the occupied territories and that we will fulfil the commitment in the programme for Government which focuses on goods. I said we will also constructively engage on other issues, including the issues the Deputy is raising. However, we are going to have to look at everything through the prism of law and of how things can be operationalised and work. This is a complex area. I was the Taoiseach who asked the Attorney General to review again the possibility of legally being able to do something in relation to occupied territories and trade in the context of the ICJ advisory opinion.

We got legal advice that it may now be possible to do something. We should not, though, fool ourselves as to the breadth of that ability. This is a very narrow path in terms of making sure any law the Oireachtas passes is, exactly as it should be, lawful. To do anything else would be, not intentionally but accidentally, symbolic rather than meaningful.

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South-Central, Sinn Fein)
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It is a change of substance.