Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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389. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade his views that Israel and Palestine are fulfilling the ceasefire agreement currently in place; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44823/14]

Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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The ceasefire in Gaza which came into effect on 26 August achieved the overriding objective of bringing an end to the massive violence and loss of life caused by the fighting. Since Ireland is not privy to the terms of the ceasefire, we are not in a position to comment on the extent to which the ceasefire agreement is being fulfilled, although the general judgement is that it has been observed by both sides.

However, I have always made clear that a cessation of fire, while urgent and essential, is not of itself sufficient to address the problems of Gaza. Ireland’s view is that political discussions need to continue, to tackle the two recurring aspects of the problem – the unacceptable continuation of attacks into Israel from Gaza, and the arbitrary closure policy and restrictions imposed on Gaza by Israel, most of which have no security justification.

While we welcome that talks aimed at achieving a more sustainable ceasefire are planned, under Egyptian stewardship, real progress in putting such a sustainable ceasefire in place is still awaited. The disastrous cycle of violence which we witnessed this summer is destined to recur sooner rather than later if there is no political will or serious efforts undertaken to resolve the problems that lie behind it.