Lynn Boylan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I think most of us yesterday breathed a sigh of relief when we heard we were a step closer to a Covid vaccine, and we have been reassured by the Irish Government that it has a plan to roll out and administer it, that it will be free of charge and that there will be no issue obtaining it because we are part of an EU-wide procurement deal. This is all very welcome news, but I wish to spare a thought for the Palestinians because it seems that even in a pandemic Israel is, with the help of the EU, facilitated in continuing its apartheid system. News broke this week that the EU deal to procure the vaccine, the deal to which Ireland is a party, is cutting in the Israeli people but cutting out the Palestinians. The Israeli public health officials have counted only the number of vaccines required to vaccinate Israeli citizens, claiming that it is the Palestinian Authority's job to look after Palestinian citizens. This is a breach of international law. The Geneva Convention requires that the occupying force take preventative measures to combat the spread of contagious diseases and epidemics.

After 13 years of an Israeli blockade, the Palestinian health system is on its knees. It has been starved of all the tools to combat Covid, including PPE, ICU beds and ventilators. This is nothing new. I visited Palestine after Operation Protective Edge and the destruction of Gaza and witnessed at first hand the discriminatory treatment of Palestinians. I spoke to terrified children who were forced to travel to hospital alone because their parents were prevented from getting permits, children who had lost limbs and who were suffering from cancer alone in their hospital beds. I also witnessed vital medical supplies being withheld from the Palestinians in a Red Crescent medical storage unit. That was six years ago, and the EU and Ireland are continuing to facilitate this apartheid. We have heard time and again that the virus does not care about borders, that it does not discriminate. Sadly, however, for the people of Palestine, the Israeli Government does. I ask that the Minister for Foreign Affairs show leadership and demand that the EU vaccine be given directly to the Palestinian Authority and that Palestinian citizens be facilitated with the vaccine.