Rebecca Moynihan (Labour) | Oireachtas source

We are reaching a turning point in the bombardment of Gaza. This week we learned that two of the main hospitals have ceased operations because there is no fuel and because they are damaged beyond repair. In Al-Shifa hospital, there are newborns who are relying on life support and incubators that have been turned off. Three have died and babies are being left on the floor without oxygen and are just simply being kept warm. According to reports in the past six hours, trapped Palestinian people are digging mass graves inside Al-Shifa hospital to bury the bodies of those people who have been killed and murdered by the Israeli bombardment.Some 2.3 million people, half of whom are children, are trapped in Gaza and the most common age among those who have died is just five. Those five-year-olds are not members of Hamas. Neither are newborn babies or civilians. This collective punishment is disproportionate to the attack on 7 October and there is no justification for it. It is a war crime. It is not self-defence but represents massive breaches of international humanitarian law, disproportionate attacks and the murder of powerless children, including newborn babies. This ethnic cleansing is public and well documented.

The Irish Government's response has been excellent, from the responses of the Taoiseach and the Minister for Foreign Affairs to that of the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science just now in the Dáil. However, we need to be much stronger in trying to get the EU and our EU neighbours to call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. We cannot stand aside on the international stage as we see so many children killed. It is a scar on humanity that this war is being allowed to continue. We are very supportive of the idea of introducing sanctions on Israel because it is the only thing the international community can do to stop the brutal murder of children in the Gaza Strip.