Eugene Murphy (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There is an eerie silence around here today because we are all genuinely in deep shock after what has happened recent events. You look at the blood-splattered faces of kids on the TV, whether they are in Israel or Gaza, and you see them holding on to one another so tightly with fear written all over their faces. I have kept some of those pictures and every night, no matter what time I get finished, I look at them. It just rips me apart. I advise the Minister of State to go back to that because you then realise that it is adults who are doing this to children and to women.

One good thing has come out of our debates, which is a realisation that Hamas is no friend of the Palestinian people. I remind the Minister of State - I hope I have the dates right on this - that it was 2006 when Hamas came to power in Gaza. Who did it oust? It ousted the Palestinians. That should be remembered. There was an election, although there are question marks over it, but Hamas ousted the Palestinian people, whom they now claim to represent. If you read about that Hamas Government and its goings on, you will see it does not make for pretty reading. It is time that this country realised that Hamas is a very evil organisation.

This goes wider, however. It goes wider from past times. We should remember people like Yasser Arafat and the former Israeli Prime Minister, Yitzhak Rabin, today. They came so close to peace with the Oslo agreements. Times are different now. I believe that the hands of Iran and, stretching further, those of Russia are becoming involved in this. As a parliamentarian in this House, I cannot go outside the gates on Kildare Street to show support for the Iranian women and then come in here and refuse to recognise the damage Hamas is doing. It is a total contradiction. That should be remembered. You cannot stand on a platform and talk about the terrible and appalling things that are happening to women in Iran, which everyone in this House agrees are shocking, and say that we are with those women before coming in here and subtly denying that Hamas is causing untold damage. It is also very interesting that, this year, for the first time in six or seven years, Hamas visited Russia and met top Russian people. I would like to have been a fly on the wall at that meeting.

I warn people within the confines of this House that we are living in extremely dangerous times. We cannot be without hope, however. This morning, the Tánaiste spoke a women's movement for peace in Israel. Perhaps that could happen on the Palestinian side as well. We have to realise that, in the coming months, the story of how Israeli women and children were killed will only develop. The hairs will stand on our heads when some of these stories come out. We have not had the full story yet. It is going to shock us all and leave a lot of people traumatised. I again refer back to looking at those pictures in the paper of poor innocent boys and girls holding onto one another. Their lives are totally destroyed and they will never get over this. It is a shame. We make so much of children's rights in this world and yet this is happening. In many respects, the saddest thing about it is that the world seems helpless to do much about it. It is a terrible and worrying situation but we cannot be without hope. We have to live with hope and work to make peace. Most politicians, including our Tánaiste and the Government, have been pretty level-headed and even-handed on this. That is very important at this point in time. The final thing I will say is that we now see what Hamas is up to. I know I have said this before but I will repeat that it is not friend of the Palestinian people.