Barry Ward (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge the importance of this motion and how comprehensive it is. It is not a short document. It amounts to five pages on the Order Paper. It contains much by way of suggestions on what we can actually do. It is constructive and positive. If the Government were in any doubt about what avenues were open to it, this motion would offer suggestions. I am not necessarily saying every suggestion is open to us but I agree with the motion. The Civil Engagement Group, particularly Senator Black, to whom I have spoken on this issue many times, has identified in the motion a series of comprehensive actions that this State can and should take.

I wish to focus in particular on the suggestion that we trigger Article 82 of the EU-Israel association agreement. That is a key aspect of this. Twenty-five percent of Israeli external trade is with the European Union. This is an area in which we can have a very strong impact on Israel. There has been much talk about obligations on countries like the United States, which unfortunately does not have a good track record in being upfront with its allies in Israel regarding their behaviour, respect for the rule of law and respect for observing international legal principles. All of that is true but there is something the European Union can actually do. There is a specific clause on human rights breaches in the agreement that we can trigger. Undoubtedly and indisputably, there is such a breach and there is no way that Israel can ignore that. If a quarter of its exports are affected, it will have an impact and it will have to sit up and listen. Unfortunately, we cannot act unilaterally. It is something that has to be done across the European Union. However much I would like us to trigger the clause, I do not believe we can. Therefore, I am not sure how reasonable it is to suggest we should be proceeding unilaterally. However, we should be working within the Council and at every level of government and diplomacy to convince those countries in Europe that might have an historical justification for what they are doing that they need to take action.

Hamas's actions on 7 October were unforgivable and disgusting. Those of us in a stable democracy like Ireland find it difficult to comprehend the amount of terrorism meted out by Hamas against Israeli people. I said in this Chamber this week that Hamas has sacrificed its own citizens on the altar of its ambition. It is children, families and women – innocent civilians in the Gaza Strip – who are now suffering the military onslaught of Israel. What Hamas did in acting selfishly on 7 October was spark an indescribable reaction from Israel. I am very proud of the Government of Ireland for calling it out and using the words "revenge" and "vengeful" about the actions of the Israeli Government. There is no doubt that its actions are disproportionate, illegal, genocidal, terroristic and appalling in every sense. They are totally disproportionate to what was done but that has always been the way in Israel–Palestine relations. When an Israeli person, be it a soldier or innocent civilian, is killed by a terrorist attack by one of the Palestinian organisations, the response from Israel is tenfold. It has always been that way. Unfortunately, for many years, for decades and generations, it has not been called out on this. The countries of the West, including the US and member states of the European Union, and other countries around the world have not comprehensively called Israel out for its breaches of international law. Reference has been made to illegal settlements. There is not a single reputable international lawyer in the world who does not consider the behaviour of Israel in the West Bank and elsewhere, in terms of claiming land that is not its own, as absolutely illegal, yet Israel has been allowed to behave in this way continually.

Sanctions have not stopped Israel from doing this and did not force it to make settlers leave. The only time we have had any kind of movement on this was in 2005, when there was disengagement from the Gaza Strip. However, right across the West Bank, tracts of land that belong to Palestinians are being swallowed up by Israeli settlers with the support and protection of the Israel Defense Forces. I remember talking to a settler who had set up a vineyard. He claimed that Palestinians had been living there for hundreds of years and could never grow anything but that God provided when he came along. He could spring up vines and produce wine because that was God's will. He did not mention the irrigation equipment worth millions of euro that came with his farm to grow the vines. This is now the selective approach of Israeli settlers and the Israeli Government to these things.

Let us send out a message to Israel that it is not fooling anyone and that it is breaking the law all the time. It is now not just breaking the law in terms of gathering land but is doing so through slaughtering innocents, including children, who have nothing to do with its conflict and its persecution complex, which may well be justifiable in an historical context but which can never justify what is happening in Gaza today, including the death toll and the murder. That is what it is. It is the murder of innocent people who have nothing to do with Israel’s conflict. It is wading in with its machine of war. Whether it is today, tomorrow or in a year’s time, there will be consequences for Israel. There have to be, whether at the International Court of Justice or the International Criminal Court. Israel is not immune from this. It may not be a signatory to the Rome Statute or part of the International Criminal Court but there has already been a ruling that jurisdiction extends to what happens in the Gaza Strip. Therefore, the military figures and politicians who have provided for this onslaught against innocent civilians will have to answer. It is genocide, a crime against humanity and murder. None of these crimes can go unpunished. Let us send a message to Israel now that it will not get away with it, it is fooling no one and the consequences are coming.