Frances Black (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Yesterday morning, the Israeli military murdered ten Palestinians, including two elderly men and a child, and injured more than 100 in a vicious raid on Nablus. Throughout the brutal attack, the Israeli military blocked Palestinian medical personnel from treating the wounded. The raid on Nablus is the second massacre by the Israeli military in the occupied West Bank in 2023. The Israeli military killed ten Palestinians during a raid in Jenin in January. Both cities are under constant, systematic terror by the Israeli military. This year could be the deadliest year in the West Bank since 2000. At least 61 Palestinians have been killed so far this year. Why is the Irish Government ignoring the constant and extreme violence against Palestinians? It is horrific. As thousands of Palestinians mourn for the ten lives lost in today's raid, why is the Irish Government abandoning them in their struggle?

Let us be clear. These raids are designed to terrorise Palestinians with the goal of ethically cleansing them from their land and destroying any resistance against Israel's apartheid regime. I believe this Government and, in fact, the whole world has lost all connection to the realities that ordinary Palestinians face. Palestinians will continue to be threatened with death, injury, occupation and oppression while the world watches and pronounces empty words. We should be on the side of unconditional commitment to justice, equality, freedom and dignity for all people with no exceptions. When the Tánaiste visited Kyiv as Taoiseach in July 2022, he was right when referring to Russian atrocities. He said that "The use of terror against and the deliberate targeting of civilian populations are war crimes".