Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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160. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to provide an update on the meetings he has engaged in with international organisations, including the United Nations and the European Union, concerning the appalling atrocities inflicted on innocent people in Gaza. [15576/25]

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South-Central, Sinn Fein)
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201. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade for an update on his Department’s engagements following the recent breaking of the ceasefire by the Israeli government. [15548/25]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 160 and 201 together.

Both I and my officials interact with a wide variety of international partners on the Middle East which remains a priority for this Government.

Ireland’s engagement is guided by our longstanding and principled position, notably respect for international law, respect for the equal right to self-determination, peace, security and dignity for Israelis and Palestinians alike, and unwavering support for the two-State solution.

The situation in Gaza and the wider Middle East formed an important part of my engagements at the Munich Security Conference in February, where I met with a number of global leaders and policy makers including the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Palestine, the Foreign Minister of Egypt, the Foreign Minister of Jordan and the Commissioner-General of UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini.

In the current context, the situation in Israel and Palestine remains a standing agenda point on the Foreign Affairs Council enabling me and my officials to exchange with our EU partners on this key priority on a monthly basis. At the Foreign Affairs Council in March, Ireland reiterated our call for the delivery of much-needed humanitarian aid to Gaza and the further release of hostages. Ireland also called attention to the extremely concerning situation in the West Bank.

In this context, I welcome that the EU’s High-Level Dialogue with the Palestinian Authority will be held directly after the Foreign Affairs Council in April. The dialogue will provide a high-level forum for political exchange and an opportunity to express the EU's support for the Palestinian Authority.

The immediate focus of the international community must be on bringing hostilities to an immediate end and for all parties to return to talks aimed at implementing the second phase of the ceasefire and hostage release deal. Our focus must also be on the immediate resumption of humanitarian aid into Gaza at scale, and the release of the remaining hostages.

Ireland remains convinced that the implementation of the two-State solution is the only way to establish lasting peace and security for both Israel and Palestine, and the wider region.

We are working with international partners to step up our efforts to implement the two-State solution, including through meetings of the ‘Global Alliance for the Implementation of the Two-State Solution’, which was founded at UN High Level Week last year and has met several times since then. It most recently met last month in Cairo.

Ireland is using all the tools at our disposal - political, legal, diplomatic and humanitarian - in response to this dreadful conflict.