Lisa Chambers (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister is welcome. I commend him on his strong words, comments and actions in respect of this issue to date. He has represented Ireland very well on it. Senator McDowell put it well when he said that Gaza is a living hell. More than 2 million people are, essentially, being suffocated, crammed into tight spaces without basic living conditions. They are living in conditions with which none of us would be able to live. The ongoing escalation of violence in Gaza and the West Bank is completely abhorrent. We have to condemn, in the strongest manner possible, in openly saying that Israel's actions have fundamentally breached Palestinian human rights. They are in breach of international law and we must call that out and be very clear about it.

The Taoiseach has made it clear that the Government is extremely concerned about what is happening in the Middle East and wants to see an immediate end to the violence. We must be clear that Israel's actions are unacceptable and confrontational. There is a reason the violence is escalating. Even though we stress the right to peaceful protest on all sides, I think it is fair to say that Israel's actions are completely disproportionate and in no way justifiable by any means. The events for civilians on both sides are extremely terrifying and deeply tragic for the families who have lost loved ones. The person who wrote the poem which Senator Black read into the record this morning managed to get out alive but we have all been struck by the scenes of children who have been killed in the recent attacks being pulled from the rubble. It would turn your stomach. There is no justification for the killing of innocent civilians and almost a quarter of the casualties we know about are children.

The office of the spokesperson for the Israeli army stated that the most recent attack targeted Hamas's underground military infrastructure and, as a result of the strike, the underground facility collapsed, causing the foundations of civilian houses to collapse too, leading to unintended consequences and casualties.That is not good enough. There are international obligations to prevent harm to civilians and to prevent the killing of children and innocent civilians, so to say it was an unintended casualty simply does not cut the mustard. The UN Security Council met in a specially convened session and all foreign ministers and ambassadors have called for a ceasefire, yet nothing has happened in that regard. There was also a call for both sides to respect international law, and again that is not happening. There was no sign of even a temporary truce to allow the people of Gaza just to compose themselves and recover those they have lost, who are dead or potentially still alive under the collapsed buildings.

After speaking to Egypt's foreign minister, the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, wrote on Twitter that all parties need to de-escalate tensions and the violence must end immediately. However, I must say the response from the US Administration has been disappointing, to put it mildly. We must ask why the UN Security Council failed to reach unanimous agreement on a UN Security Council resolution wording. We spend a lot of time in this Chamber, and in other parliaments and assemblies across Europe, dancing around the very obvious issue that we need the US to step up to the mark and deal with this. If it does not, the UN will continue to be limited in its response and what it can do about this. The entire world, indeed any right-thinking person across the globe, is appalled by what is going on in Gaza. We are looking to the United Nations to address this and it is not addressing it, yet nobody is willing to call out the reason for this and that needs to be said loud and clear, namely, it is the inability or the unwillingness of the US Administration to call for a ceasefire and call on Israel to stop what it is doing. Until the US does this, Israel will continue what it is doing and the innocent Palestinian civilians and the innocent Israeli civilians will be the ones to suffer.

In a televised address, Netanyahu said Israel's attacks were continuing at full force and would take time and that Israel wants to levy a heavy price on the Hamas military group. He said this flanked by his defence minister and political rival, Benny Gantz, in a show of unity. Again, this is utter defiance of the international community that they will not cease, and there is only one country that can stop this right now. We know from current figures that just short of 200 Palestinians have lost their lives, and of those we think 58 have been children and 34 women. This should sound alarm bells right across the international community. It is not acceptable, it is not something we must live with and it is fine to use our words and Parliament to express our outrage, concern and disgust at all this, but until we stop the killing and the violence and see an immediate ceasefire and a meaningful pathway to true peace between both states, this is going to happen again and again and again. More children will lose their lives, more families will be devastated and more lives will be lost.

I join colleagues in utterly condemning the attacks on buildings housing international media and then suggesting it was somehow to take out locations where Hamas was operating. It was clearly designed and intended to try to limit international coverage of what Israel is doing in Gaza, and it probably had the opposite effect. I thank the Minister for his time. It has been a good opportunity for us to give our views on the floor of the House.