Lynn Boylan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. What took place on 7 October was horrendous. We were all shocked and horrified to see what played out across social media. There is no justification whatsoever for what happened. We must, however, be honest that it did not happen in a vacuum. I was in Palestine in 2014 following Operation Protective Edge, when Gaza was bombarded and carpet-bombed by the Israel Defense Forces.There I witnessed, with my own eyes, humanitarian aid being blocked from going into Gaza. I witnessed trauma packs for young children to deal with the carpet bombing and basic first aid packs not being allowed to travel through to Gaza. Absolutely everybody agrees that Israel has a right to defend itself but I ask everyone in this room, what about Palestine's right to defend itself? What would you do, as a Palestinian person, when the Israel Defence Forces bomb schools, hospitals and UN shelters? What would you do? What do you expect the population of Palestine to feel when the world looks on as the Israel Defense Forces do that and refer to Palestinian people as human animals? While the facts are still being established in regard to the hospital on Tuesday - and we do need a full, independent investigation into what happened - we know that Israel has bombed hospitals in the past. It has done that, so regardless of whether it bombed this particular hospital, we know it has bombed other hospitals.

For too long, the EU has turned a blind eye to the war crimes perpetuated by the State of Israel. The visit of EU Commission President, Ms Ursula von der Leyen, to Israel and her unqualified support for Israel without insisting that international law be upheld has done untold damage to EU cohesion. She certainly did not do that in my name. What we need now are calm heads. We must work together to de-escalate the situation. We must have a unified call for an immediate ceasefire and the release of hostages on both sides. Humanitarian aid must be allowed to flow and those who deliver that aid must be assured of protection. What has happened in the past 12 days must be a line in the sand.

The Irish Government and the EU must work collectively to end the illegal occupation and the apartheid systems that are being imposed upon the Palestinian people. At national level, we must recognise the State of Palestine and progress the Control of Economic Activity (Occupied Territories) Bill and the Illegal Israeli Settlements Divestment Bill. It seems that Ireland just wants to appease its EU counterparts and not rock the boat in progressing that legislation but President von der Leyen and the President of the European Parliament, Ms Roberta Metsola, did not have any qualms about EU cohesion when they went off to Tel Aviv and offered unqualified support to the State of Israel and did not demand that it respect international law. What Ireland needs to do now is to send out a very clear message - a line in the sand - that we want a ceasefire, that we recognise the state of Palestine and that we will progress the Control of Economic Activity (Occupied Territories) Bill.