Vincent P Martin (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

As I said in this House last week and at a meeting of the Committee on European Union Affairs, it was disappointing that some people could not bring themselves to condemn barbaric slaughter. Apart from being disappointing, however, it was also reflective of how broken politics and geopolitics are. There should have been an instantaneous condemnation. I commend the Government, the Tánaiste and the Taoiseach on getting out early and unequivocally in condemning the slaughter of innocent people. If we want a way forward, the first step forward is to recognise that all slaughter is wrong. Slaughter of innocent people under any flag, under any name, by any people, done to any people and for any cause is wrong, wrong, wrong.

Then what does Israel do in reply? Does it want to demonstrate and prove to the world that it can carry out more slaughter, can do it better and can kill more than Hamas? Vengeance will not resolve this age-old problem. Vengeance is exactly what some in Hamas would like. Apart from it being utterly futile, it will do huge damage for generations to come. We need only look to our country and how things are just beginning to heal, although it will probably take another couple of generations. Here people can aspire to a goal by peaceful means, such as a united Ireland, and that is due in no small way to the silencing of the bombs and guns, which were the greatest enemy of a united Ireland. Where is the F. W. de Klerk, the Mandela, the John Hume, the McGuinness or the Paisley? Will they please stand forward? Will people take inspiration from McGuinness and Paisley, who were purportedly and reportedly inveterate enemies yet who got on together, worked together and occasionally smiled together, and thousands on this island were saved?

Water is vital for life. Humanitarian aid is a basic, fundamental right. Not ensuring it is acting as a further recruitment sergeant for Hamas. All hostages should be released immediately. There has to be a de-escalation, a ceasefire. The collective punishment has to be stopped immediately. Will people who have some moral fibre not stand up, speak out and say "No" to the brutality and the cutting down of innocent people in the form of collective punishment? The United States has to stand up better than it is doing at the moment. It is not perceived as an honest broker. Dialogue is absolutely vital.

If we want to take something from today about solutions and steps forward, we can start with accountability. A hugely important part of the process of ending this conflict is to know there is real accountability. The UN Human Rights Council carried out an inquiry following the 2008-09 war on Gaza which was conducted by South African jurist Richard Goldstone and co-authored by Irishman Desmond Travers, a former colonel in the Irish Defence Forces. That report accused both the Israel Defense Forces and the Palestinian militants of war crimes and possible crimes against humanity. It called on both parties to investigate their own actions. The UN General Assembly endorsed the report and asked the Security Council to submit it to the International Criminal Court. It appears, however, that very little, if anything, was done in respect of that report in terms of accountability.

As regards accountability, let us start with the atrocity in that hospital. Can we be assured that that war crime scene will be preserved in order that the perpetrators of that will face the full rigours of the law some day? We need that crime scene preserved. We need a new beginning. An eye for an eye is not true. That does not work. It alienates people. It poisons the room in which the peacemakers operate. I urge Ireland, with its proven track record and skill set of peace negotiators, to try to find a way forward. Ireland is in a near-unique position to try to lead. It is small in population, relatively speaking, but we can lead the way and tell people how futile violence is and how important dialogue is. I urge people of all political colours in this to come together and have at least one common denominator in condemning all violence as utterly futile.