Joe O'Reilly (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I would like to welcome the Minister to the House and acknowledge the fact that he has given this issue priority of attention from the beginning of his Ministry. It is an issue that resonates with everybody in Ireland, so it is important.

I want to begin by acknowledging the death, destruction and the horrendous events in Gaza, the West Bank and indeed in Israel and right through Jerusalem over the last number of days. At one point, the death toll was 184 lives in Gaza and ten in Israel. As the Minister has said, one quarter of all deaths were of children. Whatever the current figures are, they are horrendous. They are a blot on humanity and are to be utterly condemned.

Health facilities have been attacked and two prominent Palestinian doctors were killed. Roads leading to the hospitals and ambulances were shelled and destroyed. As referenced by the Minister earlier, the al-Jalaa Tower, housing the international press and Al Jazeera was razed to the ground. The clinic of Médecins sans Frontières was destroyed and its work was thwarted in a huge way. As has also been said, 2.5 million people have been bundled into Gaza in dreadful conditions. Another dimension to this conflict is the fact that there is a 20% Arab-Palestinian population in Israel and there is serious civil disorder, violence and destruction there. Last week we discussed the Ballymurphy massacre in this House. What all of that proves is that might is not right. It must stop.

I would like to focus on the backdrop to this conflict for a moment. In the West Bank in 2021, 350 structures were demolished and 468 Palestinians were displaced. In February alone, 153 properties were destroyed, displacing 305 people, including 172 children. There has been a 65% increase this year in monthly demolitions. Since 1967, 250 settlements have been established in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, inhabited by 650,000 settlers. Accelerated expulsions and home demolitions are a common feature now and there has been a 25% increase in them in the last two years. Notable examples include the expulsions and demolitions in the Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan neighbourhoods, which have caused huge difficulty. Some 640,000 settlers are residing in the West Bank under Israeli military control. Israel withdrew from Gaza but maintains a blockade.

I have set the background.I also make the point that the violence and police activity at the Al-Aqsa Mosque made for a difficult situation in the background. The settlements are thwarting the prospect of a two-state solution as they surround Jerusalem.

The critical point is that there has been a provocative background to this violence and there is a need for something to be done. The settlements are in violation of the fourth Geneva Convention, resolution 2234 of the UN, and on it goes. The unemployment rate in Gaza stands at 40%. The basic point is that the UN, the EU and the International Criminal Court, ICC, must combine to act. As the Minister stated, we in Ireland support international law. We condemn violence, whether it is from Hamas or the Israeli side. Given that Israel has might on its side and considering the history and backdrop to this, and the fact that we have not established the two states, there is a particular onus on Israel to take an initiative, to be willing to come to the table and to, almost unilaterally, bring about a ceasefire. The onus is on Israel to lead. I am glad the Minister will meet other foreign ministers tomorrow because there is an onus on the EU to act firmly. I hope the UN can act in concert before a few more days have passed. It is a shame if there is dissension there.

The situation is a catalogue of destructive violence and inhumane activity. It is a blot on our humanity and needs to stop. Ireland needs to be at the vanguard, leading the effort to make it stop.