Frances Black (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I warmly welcome the Minister and thank him for taking this debate. I also thank him for the telephone call I received from him last night. I am aware that he is extremely passionate about this issue and I know it is very close to his heart.

I want to tell the Minister about a family in Gaza. Yesterday morning, multiple generations of the al-Kulak family, at least 17 people, were killed. The youngest victim, Qusay al-Kulak, was six months old and the oldest, Saadia al-Kulak, was 84. That is an entire family, a total erasure of an entire Palestinian lineage. The Ministry of Health confirmed that 33 people were killed, including Dr. Ayman Abu al-Auf, head of internal medicine at Shifa hospital, following Israeli bombardment of their homes. Five children were found alive under the debris. It is just heartbreaking. I know the Minister gets upset about this just as much as the rest of us do. A Palestinian security source said was it was the most intense shelling since the second intifada, or uprising, that began in 2000. Palestinians were stuck under the rubble overnight until emergency services were able to retrieve them. Despite surviving the bombings, a number passed away when they were trapped under the rubble due to the delayed arrival of assistance.

For every day that passes as we witness the slaughter of Palestinians, remain silent and do not impose sanctions on the perpetrator, the State of Israel, we remain complicit. The least we could do is to fulfil our duties under international law and pass the occupied territories Bill.

I know the Minister works very hard on speaking up for the human rights of Palestinians at the EU and UN Security Council but, as others have stated, condemnation is not enough because it can be ignored. It is only when there are consequences for Israel that it will end the discrimination and oppression. Most EU states, including Ireland, are rightly calling for an immediate de-escalation of hostilities to save lives. However, calling for de-escalation without any meaningful plan for what comes next is gaslighting. Western leaders can call for de-escalation but when the fighting stops, then what? Everything goes back to normal but normal just means institutionalised discrimination and apartheid, with widespread injustice across the West Bank, Jerusalem and Gaza. Those same western leaders will accept this return to normal and move on to the next issue, refusing to take any real action or ensure accountability. Virtually every other tactic has been tried for decades. We have to stop Israeli oppression of the Palestinians. The occupied territories Bill may be the first step in bringing freedom to Palestine and real peace to region.