Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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77. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will provide an update on any recent engagement there has been between his Department and the Palestinian Authority; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47608/25]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Ireland engages regularly with the Palestinian Authority on a range of issues, including at political level.

I met with President Abbas in September of last year in New York in my capacity as Taoiseach during the United Nations High Level Week. I also spoke with him by telephone in December 2024, and in May 2024 following Ireland’s recognition of the state of Palestine. In February, I met with the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Palestinian Authority, Mohammad Mustafa, in the margins of the Munich Security Conference.

Ireland was an active participant in a UN High-Level Conference for the Peaceful Settlement of the question of Palestine and the Implementation of the two-State Solution held in New York from 28-30 July. The Conference brought a renewed sense of urgency to the implementation of the two-State solution in the interests of both Israel and Palestine, and their legitimate rights to live in their own states, in peace and security and dignity. Ireland was part of a core group of 19 countries, led by France and Saudi Arabia that prepared the Conference and negotiated the outcome document. Ireland was represented by Minister of State Emer O’Higgins who met with the Palestinian Authority Minister for Planning and International Cooperation, Dr Estephan Salameh, in the margins of the Conference. I will travel to New York for UN High Level week and hope to have further engagements with Palestinian Authority representatives then.

As the Deputy is aware, Ireland’s Representative Office to the Palestinian Authority maintains close and regular contact with the Palestinian authorities, and senior officials in my Department are also in regular contact with Ambassador Wahba Abdalmajid and other officials at the Embassy of the State of Palestine. I met Ambassador Wahba Abdalmajid most recently on 13 July.

At EU level, I attended the first ever meeting of the EU-Palestine High-Level Political Dialogue in Luxembourg on 14 April, which included an exchange between EU Ministers and Prime Minister Mustafa. In my intervention, I underlined the EU’s steadfast commitment to Palestine and welcomed further deepening of the EU-Palestine relationship.

Ireland continues to advocate within the EU about the situation in Gaza, and the West Bank including East Jerusalem. At the May Foreign Affairs Council, the EU agreed to a review of Article 2 of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, a call Ireland made with Spain in February 2024.

Consequent to that review, and the significant finding that Israel is in breach of its human rights obligations, Ireland has been repeatedly clear that there must now be concrete options for follow-up action to this review.

In June, I joined other EU Foreign Ministers in writing to the High Representative calling for the EU to undertake a detailed review of its compliance with the Advisory Opinion of the ICJ on the occupation of the Palestinian territories.

On 10 September, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced that she will bring forward a package of measures in response to Israel’s actions in Gaza and the West Bank. This is very welcome.

President von der Leyen’s clear statement that what is happening in Gaza is unacceptable reflects sentiment across the EU.

There is a clear opportunity now for the EU to finally take action and Ireland will work with like-minded Member States to follow-up with the Commission on the detail of the proposals.

Ireland, together with EU and international partners, will continue to work towards preserving the viability of the two-State solution in the interests of both Israel and Palestine and their legitimate rights to live in their own state, in peace, security and dignity.

Ireland will continue to maintain channels of communication with the Palestinian Authority, including through our mission in Ramallah and the Embassy of the State of Palestine in Dublin.