Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am very pleased to have an opportunity to be here today and I thank Seanad Éireann for inviting me. I have commitments in the other House so I will take this debate along with the Ministers of State, Deputies Thomas Byrne and Neale Richmond. I said in the other House yesterday and will say today again at the outset that I hope the starting and end point of this debate will be not be "Opposition good, Government bad" or "Government good and Opposition bad". People right across this country, including every Member of Seanad Éireann, are utterly horrified and repulsed at what is happening in Gaza. Nobody, no matter what their party jersey is, or none, has a monopoly on that. All of us, every single day we come to work, and I do not doubt anybody's bona fides on this, are working to do our very best as a small country to make a positive impact in a very volatile, dangerous and uncertain world.

As today is International Day of Peacekeeping, I also wish to thank the men and women of Óglaigh na hÉireann who are serving in peacekeeping missions, most particularly our UN peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon in that region. They are working so hard to keep peace in a very volatile situation. I know that people right across the political divide and across our country are so proud of them and all that they do.

Last week, the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, stated that Palestinians are enduring "what may be cruellest phase of this cruel conflict". The escalating cruelty, the genocide, of 80 days of the Israeli blockade on humanitarian aid means the entire population of Gaza is now at risk of famine. The people of Gaza have been forced to flee from their homes, on an almost continual basis over the past 18 months. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, UNRWA, has described them as being "treated like pinballs", being forced to flee "in search of safety that doesn’t exist."

On our television screens and social media feeds, citizens of this country are witnessing appalling humanitarian atrocities unfold in front of our eyes. What we are seeing is an affront to our collective humanity. What we are seeing is evil. As public representatives, we are compelled to act on behalf of our citizens, to put that collective action into a force for change. In the first instance, let me recall Ireland’s position, which I am proud to say has been consistent and considered. We unequivocally condemn the terror attacks by Hamas in Israel on 7 October 2023. We all do. We unequivocally condemn the taking of hostages by Hamas and have repeatedly called for their immediate release. We echo that call today. Hamas has brought nothing but death and destruction to the people of Palestine and Israel alike. They offer the people of Palestine no hope for the future. These are not just my words. That is the view of the President and the Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority. I believe it is also the view of the vast majority of Palestinian people. There is too much whataboutery when people try to conflate Hamas, which is a despicable illegal terrorist organisation, with standing up for the people of Palestine, who deserve their sovereignty and their independence. Hamas offers them no bright future.

I condemn in the strongest possible way the continuing Israeli military operations in Gaza. It is clearly a war crime. It is clearly genocidal activity. I abhor Israel’s clear plans to not only persist but, extraordinarily worryingly, to go further and starve, displace, kill and reoccupy. We urgently need an end to all of this. Ireland is extraordinarily concerned by the latest assessment by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, IPC, the global hunger monitor, that the entire population of Gaza is facing high levels of food insecurity, with 500,000 people facing starvation. The obstruction of life-saving aid by Israel is a violation of its international obligations. The limited restart of humanitarian aid, if we can even call it that, into Gaza is clearly insufficient. It is a drop in the ocean of a vast need.

Israel has approved a new model for delivering aid into Gaza that no humanitarian partner could support. The humanitarian partners are clear that they will not participate in any agreement that does not fully respect humanitarian principles. The CEO of that new delivery mechanism resigned on Sunday, citing the impossibility of implementing the plan while also strictly adhering to the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence. The UN has raised concerns that the proposed model cannot deliver aid effectively at the speed and scale required. It places beneficiaries and aid workers at risk, undermines the role and independence of the UN and our trusted partners, and links humanitarian aid to political and military objectives. If you want food, do this, go there; that is not how humanitarian aid works. We must be clear. Humanitarian aid can never be politicised. It can never be part of military activity. Quite simply, it is another outrage that is clearly designed to further control and restrict supplies.

We call on Israel to allow a full resumption of vitally needed aid at scale into Gaza, in accordance with international law and humanitarian principles. We also call on Israel to enable the UN and humanitarian organisations to work independently. Crucially, we urge everybody to get back to talks aimed at immediately agreeing a ceasefire and hostage release deal. There was a very brief moment when there was a faint glimmer of hope that after all of the conflict, pain and death, there was a ceasefire, hostages were released and aid was beginning to flow. We need to get back to that process. Humanitarian aid must be allowed into and throughout Gaza at scale. I should say to the Irish people that this is aid they funded. Enough aid funded by our taxpayers, our citizens, to feed around 6,000 Palestinians has been sitting in trucks in Jordan for four months. It could be in there today. The only reason it is not - there is no other reason - is that Israel will not allow it in. That is aid funded by Irish people, sitting there while people are starving. Amid these horrors, we have to ask ourselves if we are doing enough. Quite frankly the international community is not doing enough - nobody is doing enough - and we must challenge ourselves every day and ask what more can we do. I am very clear it is our duty and our obligation to stand up for our values which we hold dear and which have served our country well. I am proud that both Houses of the Oireachtas are upholding that obligation. It is our duty to stand up for multilateralism, the rule of law, human rights, international law and international humanitarian law. As a country which has its own experience of famine, it is a human catastrophe we cannot countenance.

Over the past few weeks, we have seen some progress on issues where Ireland has shown leadership. At the Foreign Affairs Council on 20 May, finally a majority of EU member states agreed to a review of the EU-Israel Association Agreement. Far too little, far too late. This step was first initiated by Ireland and Spain in February 2024 when just two of us were seeking this. Ireland has consistently called for a meaningful interpretation of Israel’s human rights obligations under the agreement. The human rights clauses in that agreement are not there for padding or to make the agreement longer. They have real meaning and need to be given effect. Both the Taoiseach and I have also said that at this stage the agreement should be suspended pending the review.

While the situation in Gaza is front of mind, we must also ensure adequate attention is paid to the situation in the West Bank, where Israel is conducting its single largest military operation in 20 years. At least 40,000 people have been displaced since January. A recent report from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has found that Israel is taking serious and accelerated steps to annex more and more parts of the occupied Palestinian territory. I agree with a recent statement from the EU High Representative which expresses deep concern over the Israeli incursions in the West Bank, as well as illegal practices such as settlement activities, home demolitions and settler violence. These actions undermine the rights of Palestinian people, threaten the prospects for a just and lasting peace and further entrench the offensive.

Ireland, alongside EU partners, is strongly opposed to the settlement policy and activities, including in and around East Jerusalem. We call on Israel to immediately halt these activities. Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory are illegal under international law. This is our long-standing position. Instances of settler violence have intensified in recent months. Ireland has strongly supported the sanctions adopted by the EU against both individuals and entities involved in settler violence. Again we call for progress on proposals for sanctions targeting violent settlers. We reiterated that at the most recent Foreign Affairs Council.

As well as these violent acts, I draw attention to some other troubling developments happening in the West Bank. Since January 2024, 616 Palestinians, including 115 children, have been killed by Israeli settlers or by the Israel Defense Forces. A further 4,512 Palestinians have incurred injuries, almost 1,000 of them children. Last year, the UN OCHA recorded the highest ever level of attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians that resulted in casualties and damage. So far this year there have been 487 such instances recorded. The conditions of life for Palestinians in the West Bank are intolerable.

Last Wednesday, the IDF fired shots in the vicinity of a visit to Jenin by a group of diplomats, including two Irish diplomats based in Ramallah. Fortunately, no one was hurt but this is completely unacceptable, and let me put again on the record today my condemnation of this incident in the strongest possible terms.

I also condemn the brutal antisemitic murder of two officials from the Israeli Embassy in Washington last week. Our thoughts and condolences are with the families of those involved.

I am deeply concerned by the implications of Israeli legislation targeting UNRWA, which has been the backbone of the humanitarian response. Ireland stands with UNRWA. It has increased its funding to UNRWA and has worked with the European Union to make sure we collectively increased our funding to UNRWA and we continue to support UNRWA. It is an attack on multilateralism and on a humanitarian aid system and we cannot tolerate it.

Unfortunately, time is so tight to cover such a vast range of issues but I turn briefly to the occupied territories Bill. First, I praise Senator Frances Black for her tenacity but also for her decency in how she has gone about her business, and for working collaboratively and not caring who brings forward what Bill. There is no ego involved in this for her - I fully acknowledge that - and that it is about doing the right thing. We are going to do the right thing together. People will always argue there is more to do but this week we became the first country in the European Union where a government has said it will ban trade with the occupied Palestinian territories. That is the Government decision. I now have to draft legislation, get it to the Joint Committee on foreign affairs – I welcome its Cathaoirleach, Deputy John Lahart to the Gallery today – and I will work with the committee constructively. There are no policy differences with me on the issue of services. There are legal differences and we have to work and tease through those. That is what pre-legislative scrutiny is for. However, I want to pass this legislation. I want Ireland to pass this legislation. Does this fundamentally change things for Netanyahu? Of course not. Does it matter? Of course it does. It matters morally but I also hope it will have a cascading effect that other countries in the European Union who share our view will also say that maybe they can do that as well. Simply waiting for unanimity at European level is not an acceptable situation. Let us work constructively on this. I look forward to doing that and this House can do some good work.

While a two-state solution seems further away than ever before, I am proud that this country recognised the State of Palestine a year ago yesterday, joining with Norway and Spain. Since then Slovenia has recognised it and Malta has said it will do so next month. I call for some of the bigger European countries to find the courage to do it as well. It would be extraordinarily helpful in keeping the prospect of a two-state solution alive. You cannot have a two-state solution if you do not recognise the existence of two states. There will be a major UN conference next month, at which Ireland will play a leadership role. It will be a really important opportunity for more countries to join the coalition for a two-state solution.

I thank everyone for constructively engaging on this. My Department and I and the Government will continue to constructively engage with Seanad Éireann on an issue which I know is causing extraordinary distress and concern to people in our country because what we are seeing are war crimes, genocide and the starvation of children and vulnerable civilians, and we all have to work on this.