Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 30 November 2023
151. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs what measures are being taken to ensure exit from Gaza for Irish citizens; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50213/23]
View answer152. Deputy Marian Harkin asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs what efforts his Department is making to ensure the safe passage of Irish citizens from Gaza; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49932/23]
View answer195. Deputy Alan Farrell asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs his Department's efforts to ensure that Irish citizens in Gaza can leave the area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49604/23]
View answer238. Deputy Chris Andrews asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs the effort he is making to secure the safe passage of Irish citizens out of the Gaza Strip; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50169/23]
View answerI appreciate that the Tánaiste has answered some of these questions already. My question relates to Irish citizens getting out of Gaza and also the Israeli hostages. What progress has been made in that regard? The question has been taken over a little bit by events but I am anxious to hear his reply anyway.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 151, 152, 195 and 238 together.
Ensuring the safe exit from Gaza of all Irish citizens who wish to leave, and their accompanying dependants, has been a priority of the Government and my Department since the outbreak of the current crisis. For the past seven weeks, officials at Ireland's embassies in Cairo and Tel Aviv, our representative office in Ramallah and our consulate directorate in Ireland have been in daily contact with Irish citizens in Gaza to provide them with consular assistance and support. As soon as a clear process was put in place by the relevant authorities for the exit of foreign and dual nationals from Gaza, my Department and I worked tirelessly to facilitate the necessary clearance by the relevant authorities for Irish citizens together with dependent family members accompanying them.
I spoke by phone with foreign ministers from across the region and I visited the region particularly to meet the foreign ministers of Israel and Egypt. The Israeli authorities are the authority with influence in terms of the clearing list. I want to pay tribute to the ambassadors in Tel Aviv, Cairo and Ramallah for the work they have done. The first group of 23 Irish citizens came out on 15 November, during my visit. To date, we have secured the exit of 56 Irish citizens and accompanying dependants from Gaza. I met a group of them last Friday and asked them to share their experiences with me. I learned of the horrors they experienced in the context of the war.
Our embassy in Cairo has been present on the ground at the Rafah crossing to receive Irish citizens as they enter Egypt, and to facilitate their onward travel to Ireland. A multi-agency response, co-ordinated by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, has been put in place to manage the arrival, reception and support of citizens and dependants in Ireland.
As I said, I met a group last Friday. I was deeply moved by their stories. I am conscious of the devastating losses many of them have suffered. One citizen lost his wife, mother and brother. We managed to get his two children out. It is a very sad situation. We always have to be conscious of that. There were others present who still have family in Gaza. We continue to pursue those cases with the Israeli and Egyptian authorities. A small number of Irish citizens remain in Gaza. We will work consistently with the authorities in those cases. In my previous reply, I outlined the consular responsibilities. Both authorities made it very clear from the beginning that it would only be Irish citizens and their immediate dependants who would be allowed to leave. We have some Irish visa holders in Gaza. We will facilitate these people if we can persuade authorities to allow them to exit Gaza. In collaboration with the Department of Justice, we have provided dependants with emergency documentation to facilitate their exit from Gaza also. We will continue to work to see if we can get others on the list and get them out of Gaza. We have to work with the Israeli and Egyptian authorities. They have their systems and processes and that is the nature of how we engage on the matter.
I warmly welcome the release of the Irish-Israeli child, Emily Hand, who was kidnapped and held hostage by Hamas. Her release and the escape of Irish citizens from Gaza into Egypt represents a triumph for diplomacy. The Tánaiste visited Israel, Egypt and the occupied Palestinian territories. As he has said, our embassies in Cairo and Tel Aviv, our representative in Ramallah, and the officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs worked day and night to bring about this result. We owe them sincere thanks for the work they have done. Diplomacy works.
What are the prospects for a further extension of the truce to allow the release of all the Israeli hostages and to allow for further essential humanitarian aid to get into Gaza? What are the prospects for an extended ceasefire in the hope of stopping the proposed bombardment of southern Gaza in the coming days by Israel?
I thank the Tánaiste. He has answered the question that we have posed several times today. Like Deputy Haughey, I warmly welcome the release of Emily Hand and the information we have been given about the Irish citizens who have been able to leave Gaza. Will the Tánaiste clarify how many Irish citizens remain in Gaza and how many of those wish to leave, if any? I am not sure of the precise numbers. Of those who have left, have all their dependants been able to travel with them?
Like Deputy Haughey, I want to commend the unceasing work of the Department of Foreign Affairs. In my small experience at European level, whenever the Department of Foreign Affairs was called on to assist Irish citizens, the efforts were second to none. That should never be lost in all of this. Many other countries looked upon Irish citizens and the value placed on them with-----
Thank you, Deputy. We are way over time.
I thank the Tánaiste for his response. I compliment the Department of Foreign Affairs and the consular and diplomatic staff for the work they have done in securing the release of Emily Hand and the safe passage of other citizens. Like Deputy Harkin, I am very interested to know how many Irish citizens remain in Gaza and how many of those wish to leave. I note that the Tánaiste mentioned the death of one Irish citizen who had not been on the radar, so to speak, of the embassy in Cairo. Have there been other Irish deaths as a result of the attack on Gaza by Israel?
I feel that everybody in this House is united in the desire to see an extension of the ceasefire. This is really important. I also want to acknowledge the work the Department is doing to secure the release of hostages. What efforts are being made at European level to ensure an extension of the ceasefire?
I thank the Deputies for their comments. I will certainly convey their compliments to the ambassadors in Tel Aviv, Cairo and Ramallah, who are still working hard and have worked very hard, and also to our team in headquarters, who co-ordinated it all and have maintained almost daily contact with our citizens.
As I said earlier regarding the release of Emily Hand as a hostage, I think it is a story that has been personal for all of us. We heard from Tom about the trauma she has suffered. As I said earlier, the individual cases tell us a wider truth: no child should be kidnapped, no child's home should be violated, no child's home should be bombed and no child should have to suffer the horror of living in a war zone. That is why we are pushing very hard for a humanitarian ceasefire. Two children, including a nine-year-old, were killed in the West Bank overnight. It is unacceptable.
Our position is that it would be unconscionable for this war to resume. As I said earlier, I was reading a report in The New York Times today about the level and scale of the action, which is unprecedented. It just has to be brought to an end.
There is a small number of our citizens remaining. The number remaining is fluid because, believe it or not, some people come forward very late. Only in the last week, one citizen has come forward who had not identified themselves for the last seven weeks. It is a small number, below ten, and there are some dependents and visa holders. We will work with the authorities. Some have not been allowed out and we are seeking to facilitate their exit.
I want to extend the question by asking about the remarks in recent days by the Israeli President and Foreign Minister in respect of the current crisis and Ireland's position. They are difficult to understand. Is it not the case that what we have looked for is a humanitarian ceasefire, adherence to international humanitarian law and respect for fundamental human rights by state and non-state actors? We have highlighted the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza and the number of civilian casualties, including many children. We have rightly called for the release of all the hostages held by Hamas and other militant groups. Is Ireland also advocating for a renewed political process to bring about peace and security in the region?
I fully support the Tánaiste's statement and the wishes of the Dáil to see the humanitarian ceasefire extended, with the aim of making it permanent. I too want to extend the question a little to the issue of the EU-Israel trade agreement. I put down a question and I got a response from the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, which tells me that this agreement between Israel and the EU does not apply to territory occupied by Israel in 1967. In other words, this is not within its remit. However, if we look very carefully at the deal itself, it states that Israel must have respect for human rights and democratic principles in both its internal and international policy. It is very clear that the trade deal requires this. While, of course, we need a qualified majority, is there any way that Ireland can start that discussion?
I thank the Tánaiste for his response. I want to take the opportunity to make very clear my support for the Government's position in regard to the extension of the ceasefire and an outright cessation of hostile activities by the Israel Defence Forces, and a permanent solution to this ongoing intergenerational conflict. I will make it very clear, in my own communications with the Israeli ambassador in Ireland, that the response to barbarism is not more barbarism. Unfortunately, that is what has transpired over the last seven weeks. I am shocked and appalled at the response by the Israeli Government to the Irish position, which is fair-minded and interested primarily and solely in peace and the preservation of life. We are not interested in taking sides beyond that. I want to put that on record and make it absolutely clear.
I agree with the Tánaiste that a return to the slaughter in Gaza would be unconscionable. I know many people have concerns about the European Union's approach to the situation in the Gaza Strip. We saw the best of the EU in the response to the brutal crimes inflicted on Ukraine but we have seen the opposite approach to Israel, and that cannot be denied. Some 6,000 children have been slaughtered and the EU has not in any way shown a similar approach to that taken to Ukraine. Is there any hope that the EU will take a stand against Israel's aggression towards Palestine in the same way that it is taken a strong stance against Russia?
In response to Deputy Haughey, we are very much working with other like-minded European Union member states to push for a roadmap to a two-state solution. We can never again allow this to happen and we can never again go back to a situation where, essentially, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is put on the backburner. There has to be very proactive international diplomatic and political effort and pressure on all sides to get to a resolution of this. With regard to other comments that have been made, that means the end of settlements in the West Bank. Even the announcements overnight by Israeli Government Ministers in respect of very significant resources being allocated to fast-track civilian responses and to supply arms and weapons are shocking. I am appalled by that. It has to stop. We have to create a credible roadmap to a two-state solution and that cannot happen if there is continued aggressive and violent settlement activity in the West Bank. I have been there and have spoken to victims of this, and as this is going on in Gaza, it is also going on in the West Bank. That is not acceptable and is counter to any potential peaceful roadmap into the future.
Deputy Harkin mentioned QMV and Deputy Andrews also raised this point. There is a divided position within Europe and history plays a big role in this. Germany has a view because of the Shoah, and Austria likewise. Ireland has a very clear position on the two-state solution, as Deputy Haughey said. Deputy Farrell pointed out that we want the violence to end, and we are in favour of international humanitarian law being applied and UN resolutions being adhered to. Fundamentally, that is our position and it is very straightforward. This is a country that has experienced conflict resolution. We experienced a terrible war, which should never have happened, and we experienced terrible civilian loss during that war. Therefore, we are very focused on what we want here. On the other side, the European Union has quadrupled humanitarian aid to the Palestinians to €100 million as a result of this conflict.
There is a need for a European Union-Palestine trade association agreement and a much stronger, structured relationship between the Palestinian Authority and the European Union. Rather than trying to work with all of the issues around QMV, the conditionality of the clauses of the Israel-EU agreement should be worked on to make sure they have been fulfilled and adhered to. I see another track developing - we have been pushing this with Belgium and others - to have a stronger, structured relationship between the Palestinian Authority and the European Union almost to the level of a trade association agreement and encompassing all of the aid and support that we give.
