I call Senator Black to move the motion.
Situation in Palestine: Motion
I move:
That Seanad Éireann: deeply regrets and condemns:
- the killing of over 28,000 Palestinians in Gaza in recent weeks;
- that over 11,500 of those killed have been children, over 17,000 children have been left unaccompanied because Israeli attacks have killed their entire families;
- that the number of children killed in Gaza in recent weeks has surpassed the annual number of children killed across the world’s conflict zones since 2019;
- that over 1,000 children in Gaza have had one or both legs amputated due to the bombardment, sometimes without anaesthetic;
- the killing of 1,200 Israeli citizens and the attacks by Hamas on Israeli civilians and the taking of hostages, including an estimated 30 children;
- that over 122 journalists have been killed in Gaza in recent weeks;
- that more than 152 United Nations (UN) staff have been killed in Gaza in recent weeks;
- the killing of over 390 Palestinians, the wounding of over 4,250 people and the displacement of 13 entire communities in the West Bank in recent weeks due to increasing illegal Israeli settler violence;
- Israel’s cutting off of food, water and electricity to Gaza and the cutting off of telecommunications to and from Gaza;
- the forcible displacement of civilians in Gaza and the aerial bombardment of routes used by displaced civilians;
- the targeting of critical infrastructure in Gaza and the orders from the Israeli Defence Forces to evacuate hospitals, placing further strain on a healthcare system on the brink of collapse;
notes with extreme concern:
- that the Israeli Government’s actions amount to collective punishment of the 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza, which is a violation of international law, in particular the Geneva Conventions;
- that incitement to genocide is a crime set out in Article 3 of the Genocide Convention and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel must punish those inciting genocide in their judgment imposing provisional measures;
- that the ICJ’s imposition of provisional measures in the South Africa v Israel case under the Genocide Convention means that Israel is credibly accused of committing genocide in Gaza and must take measures to prevent further damage while the case is ongoing;
- that Israel has continued to kill Palestinian civilians and deprive them of adequate access to aid despite the ICJ’s provisional measure ruling instructing them not to, and that South Africa is seeking an emergency hearing in relation to this;
- that Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International has confirmed the use of white phosphorous by Israel in civilian areas of Gaza;
- that there are approximately 50,000 pregnant women in Gaza according to the United Nations Population Fund who lack access to essential maternal healthcare or access to clean water;
- that the Israeli Government has bombed at least three refugee camps, numerous hospitals, universities, bakeries and other pieces of essential civilian infrastructure;
- that the Israeli Government has more than doubled the number of Palestinians detained, often without any due process, from 5,200 to more than 10,000, including many children;
- that Palestinians detained by Israel are sometimes subjected to torture, inhuman and degrading treatment and are deprived of food, water and medical care;
- that the Rafah Crossing has only been opened to allow an estimated 500 foreign nationals and dual citizens to leave Gaza;
further regrets:
- the failure of many in the international community to hold Israel to account for their actions in breach of international law and the unwillingness of many countries/entities, including the United States, the United Kingdom and the Council of the European Union, to call for an immediate ceasefire or to stop weapons sales to Israel;
- that the Council of the European Union has failed to be consistent in seeking application of international law, and by its double standards has engaged in acts of gross hypocrisy and moral failure;
- that the Israeli Government has refused to recognise the authority of the International Criminal Court (ICC);
- the progress of the ICC’s investigation into potential war crimes committed by Israel and by Palestinian armed factions which began in 2021 has proceeded at an unacceptably slow pace;
- that there has been significant repression by Israeli authorities of demonstrations expressing solidarity with the Palestinian people;
- that there has been significant censorship of speech and repression of demonstrations expressing solidarity with the Palestinian people across Europe and such repression violates Articles 10 and 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights;
further notes:
- that Article 33 of the Geneva Conventions prohibits collective punishment;
- that Article 51 of Additional Protocol I of the Geneva Conventions requires the protection of the civilian population and prohibits indiscriminate attacks which result in civilian injury or loss of life;
- that the rights and obligations under the United Nations Charter apply equally to all, including the obligation to pursue peace;
- the United Nations General Assembly Resolution ES-10/21;
- the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), as the specialist UN agency for Palestinian refugees, is critical to the survival of millions of Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, and the wider region; it employs 13,000 staff in Gaza, and cutting off funding to UNRWA runs counter to the order of the ICJ on 26th of January to ensure all necessary humanitarian aid is available to the people of Gaza and may facilitate acts of genocide;
- that the United Nations Special Rapporteur for the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, Michael Lynk, has stated that ‘apartheid is being practiced by Israel in the occupied Palestinian territory’; - the 2022 report from Amnesty International entitled ‘Israel’s Apartheid Against Palestinians: Cruel System of Domination and Crime Against Humanity’, the 2021 report from Israeli human rights organisation B’Tselem entitled ‘A regime of Jewish supremacy from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea: This is apartheid’ and the 2022 report from Palestinian human rights organisation Al-Haq entitled ‘Israeli Apartheid: Tool of Zionist Settler Colonialism’;
- that Seanad Éireann has passed the Control of Economic Activity (Occupied Territories) Bill 2018 and the legislation is awaiting passage in Dáil Éireann;
- that since the Oslo Accords were signed, there are now four times as many illegal Israeli settlements which violently displace Palestinians and which impede efforts to build peace;
calls on the Government to:
- continue to advocate at international level and through all available diplomatic channels for an immediate ceasefire;
- advocate at international level and through all available diplomatic channels for an arms embargo on Israel;
- enact a rigorous and transparent inspection protocol at air and sea ports to ensure that weapons bound for Israel are not passing through Ireland;
- advocate within the EU for the urgent suspension the EU-Israel Association Agreement on human rights grounds by triggering Article 82 of the Agreement;
- provide a money message for the Control of Economic Activity (Occupied Territories) Bill 2018 and to support its enactment;
- support the enactment of the Illegal Israeli Settlements Divestment Bill 2023;
- continue to provide and advocate for increased humanitarian aid and use all diplomatic tools available to ensure necessary levels of humanitarian aid are reaching Gaza;
- use all diplomatic and political tools available, including the imposition of sanctions, to put pressure on Israel to end their aerial bombardment and blockade of Gaza and their wider breaches of international law;
- support diplomatic and political efforts to secure the release of hostages and an end to attacks on civilians by Hamas in breach of international law;
- apply and seek the application of international law in a consistent manner;
- support ongoing and emerging investigations by the ICC, including investigations into actions by Israel and Hamas in recent months;
- support South Africa’s case against Israel in the International Court of Justice under the Genocide Convention;
- recognise the State of Palestine in line with the Dáil motion to do so in 2014 and the commitment in the Programme for Government;
- reaffirm and redouble efforts to create a lasting peace that includes a two-state solution, the dismantling of the system of apartheid in Israel, the end of the illegal occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and an end to the blockade of Gaza;
calls on the Council of the European Union to:
- advocate for and support an immediate ceasefire through all available diplomatic channels and international fora;
- use all political and diplomatic tools available, including sanctions, to put pressure on Israel to end their aerial bombardment and blockade of Gaza;
- use all political and diplomatic tools available, including sanctions, to put pressure on Israel to end their ongoing breaches of international law;
- support diplomatic and political efforts to secure the release of hostages and an end to attacks on civilians by Hamas in breach of international law;
- apply and seek the application of international law in a consistent manner;
- support ongoing and emerging investigations by the ICC into Israel and Hamas;
- substantially increase levels of humanitarian aid to Palestine, including the restoration of funding for UNWRA;
- reaffirm and redouble efforts to create a lasting peace that includes a two-state solution, the dismantling of the system of apartheid in Israel, the end of the illegal occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and an end to the blockade of Gaza;
- ensure that European Union Member States are not infringing Articles 10 and 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights and that the right to protest and express solidarity is not being repressed.
I second the motion.
The Minister of State will be contribute at the end. Senator Black is sharing time with Senator Higgins. Is that agreed? Agreed.
I welcome the Minister of State back to the House. It is great to see him. I want in particular to thank all of the my Civil Engagement Group colleagues for their support with this motion. I highlight the work of Senator Lynn Ruane in particular. She is not here this evening. She is at the OSCE in Vienna trying to get politicians from across Europe to support an immediate ceasefire. She is doing phenomenal work on that.
Everybody knows that Gaza is a graveyard for children. That is the description given by UN Secretary General António Guterres. Four and a half months into the latest assault on the citizens of Gaza I keep asking myself how this has been allowed to happen. I cannot get my head around it, and I cannot comprehend the scale of this horror. We can compile the facts and figures as we have done for this motion, but it is impossible to reckon with the misery, fear, grief, hunger, agony and humiliation that lie behind those figures. It is suffering on an unimaginable scale. I cannot stop thinking about the thousands of children left without any surviving relatives. I cannot stop thinking about the parents digging the bodies of their dead children out of the ruins of their family homes. Entire families are being wiped out and multiple generations murdered in an instant by 2,000-pound bombs. It is beyond belief.
Israeli bombing has levelled entire Gazan neighbourhoods. Most of Gaza's buildings have been damaged. Mosques, ambulances and bakeries have been targeted. Hospitals are ceasing to function due to bombardment, invasion by Israeli soldiers and a lack of fuel. Bodies are piling up that cannot be buried. People are having to endure surgical procedures without anaesthetic. Israel has destroyed every university in Gaza. It is important to highlight all of these horrific issues. Leading academics, artists and journalists are being murdered at an even higher rate than other Gazans. Israel is conducting an assassination campaign designed to unravel the fabric of Palestinian civil society in Gaza. They want to destroy the history and the culture of a refugee population, which has resisted its displacement, occupation, besiegement and bombardment for decades. I believe the ultimate goal of this assault is the ethnic cleansing of the Gaza Strip. Israel has always sought to claim the maximum amount of Palestinian land, with the fewest number of Palestinians living in it. It has achieved this historically through massive and indiscriminate violence.
All of this horror is being broadcast on our television screens and social media feeds. It is the first genocide of the digital age. People can see what is being inflicted on the Palestinians and they are horrified. All over the world millions of people are taking part in a global movement demanding a ceasefire but, as demonstrated by the US vetoing a ceasefire resolution at the UN Security Council once again, their pleas are unfortunately falling on deaf ears. That is what is really devastating. Yesterday in this House there were statements on the situation in the middle east. I was happy and glad to hear powerful condemnation of Israeli war crimes from all speakers. It made me proud to be a Member of this House and it made me proud to be Irish. In Ireland we treat Palestinians as human beings. We value their lives and we mourn their deaths. That is just basic humanity, which is unfortunately in short supply among the political leadership of many western countries. Whenever I am in this Chamber I think about the British, American, Canadian and German politicians who are being defamed and vilified for standing up for the humanity of Palestinians. I think about the activists in these countries who are subject to arrest, censorship, harassment and violence. In this country we have freedom to speak out, which means it is our duty to speak out. However, even the finest speech rings hollow if there is no action to back it up.
We cannot allow ourselves to feel complacent or smug, and it is not good enough to be more tolerant and civilised than the UK or the US. These countries are actively complicit in the unfolding genocide in Gaza. They provide weapons, aid and diplomatic cover to a rogue, apartheid state. As a former colony, which fought for its freedom and, as a country dedicated to upholding the principles of human rights and international law, we must have higher standards for ourselves. We must be consistent and courageous. We need to take real, tangible action to support our Palestinian brothers and sisters during their time of need. The people of Ireland have met this challenge. People are protesting in huge numbers all over the country. They are raising awareness and funds. They are contacting their public representatives demanding action. They are making art and flying the Palestinian flag. Irish people know what solidarity looks like and their demonstration of love and support for the people of Palestine is, I have to say, truly beautiful and inspiring. Local authorities all over this country are passing solidarity motions with Palestine. Many of these motions include support for the enactment of the occupied territories Bill and have received support from councillors from all parties and none. Our local democracy has been reflecting the will of the people, and it is now time for us to do the same.
The international community is united behind a two-state solution. However, Israel has done everything in its power to make that outcome impossible. It refuses to recognise the legitimacy of the ICJ, which is currently ruling on the legality of its 56-year-long occupation. Israel has expanded illegal settlement construction since the Oslo Accords, making daily life in the West Bank impossible for indigenous Palestinians. There are now four times more settlers in the West Bank than there were before Oslo. The prospect of a Palestinian state - the only hope for lasting peace - is being eroded before our eyes and unfortunately nothing is being done about it. I do not believe the US and EU plans to sanction individual violent settlers will make a meaningful impact.
I am concerned about that. Violent, illegal settlement is a state-backed enterprise; one which it fully intends to impose on an ethnically cleansed Gaza if Israel has its way. Only a full ban on settlement trade will have an impact. We need to pass the occupied territories Bill and the illegal Israeli settlements divestment Bill. If we fail to take concrete political action, all of our diplomatic and humanitarian work will amount to nothing. Ireland has played a hugely important and positive role in countering the anti-Palestinian racism that has marred European politics in recent months. We have defended humanitarian aid and I congratulate both the Tánaiste and the Taoiseach in this area. We have called for an immediate ceasefire early and often, and the joint Spanish-Irish letter calling for a review of the EU-Israel agreement is a very positive step. We must go further and call for the immediate Article 82 suspension of the agreement. The human rights conditions of the agreement are non-negotiable and they have been totally disregarded by Israel. It must be made to experience consequences or the EU’s democratic and liberal principles will be irreparably damaged.
What we do now in response to Israel’s genocide will be recorded in history. The generations who come after us will ask us if we rose to the occasion. We need to be brave and we need to be principled. If we act, others will follow. I firmly believe that. The Palestinians struggling for freedom and for survival have asked us to impose diplomatic and economic sanctions on Israel. We did it with Russia and with apartheid South Africa before that. It is now time to take tangible action for Palestine. Let us stand on the right side of history.
Well said.
Amidst what we have been watching over the last period, namely, the brutal bombardment, the unconscionable blockade including that of lifesaving medical and humanitarian supplies and water, we are also seeing the systemic attempt to dismantle a society, a culture and a people. We have seen the destruction of civilian infrastructure, the targeting of hospitals, and as my colleague said, the direct demolition of universities including the museums within them. This is not anything like a war or a defensive action. It is a systemic destruction of a people, their land, their community and their culture. We see such systemic policies - and they are policies and that is why individual sanctions against individual settlers are so meaningless - being pursued by the Israeli Government in respect of its actions in Gaza and we are also seeing almost a culture of cruelty that seems to be occurring within that. I refer to the individual cruelty it takes for somebody to authorise a sniper to shoot medics who come to rescue a six-year-old girl. Those kind of individual cruelties happen and a culture of cruelty is built when you have a state which is acting with complete impunity and where, sadly, the political leaders in Israel are sending a signal that is very dehumanising about the Palestinian people.
Amidst all of these horrors we are seeing each day, we are also seeing acts of love about which I have spoken before, and acts of bravery. Bravery is not about the person who goes out in the flak jacket or the soldier on the move. Bravery is the act of a doctor who is operating under fire through smoke in their hospital; it is a child who goes out knowing that their friends have been killed and queues for water for his or her family. Bravery is a mother who takes her child from city to town to city, out on the road again, from a shelter to a possible bunker, and sees each place of safety destroyed but keeps striving. Bravery is shown by those who talk about still believing in a two-state solution, in meaningful international law, and in the principles of justice. It is those who come and speak to us and appeal to us in the world and say they still believe, dream of, and demand a better future. Given the bravery that has been shown and that we are seeing from people on drops of water a day and scraps of meals, surrounded by the grief of others and carrying grief themselves in the dust and water and danger of overcrowded refugee camps, given their bravery to keep going each day and to support each other, it is fair that Ireland would be a little braver too.
I want to acknowledge that the Government has been clear on ceasefire. Let us be clear on this because they do not seem to be very clear in the European Parliament. This is a call for an immediate ceasefire; not a ceasefire when everything is done and dusted or humanitarian aid when everybody is already dead. It is about a ceasefire now and the Government has been clear on that. The Government has also given leadership in respect of UNRWA and its funding and that is really important. The reason we see people all around the world standing up and taking action is they know that what is at stake. What is crammed right now into a tiny area in Rafah - the 1.5 million people - is not just the hearts and souls of the Palestinians, precious hearts we do not want to see stopped, it is also the heart and soul of our international legal system and of the whole structure we put in place collectively as humanity after the horrors of the Second World War. At that time, we said we would have a politics of principle, that we believed all humans should be treated equally, and that it was not about big powers of might that were right or client states any more. Those principles are also under attack because we need to be clear that some of the actions taken have been attacks on the UN itself, including, of course, the direct killing of a number of UN staff within Gaza.
In my last two minutes, I want to speak about how Ireland can be braver. One way it can be braver is by following through on the Control of Economic Activities (Occupied Territories) Bill 2018 within the manifestos of both Fianna Fáil and the Green Party coming into this last election. This Bill has international legal advice from the highest level that makes it very clear it is entirely compatible with European law. In fact, not having it is illegal effectively in that we should not be trading with illegally occupied land and crucially there cannot be a trade agreement that allows for trading with illegally occupied land. There is a direct legal action that would send a signal. Failing to do it contributed to the culture of impunity that has clearly built up in Israel over the past decade.
On the EU-Israel association agreement, yesterday the Minister said he was looking forward to the Commission's response. The Commission has responded. It has said that this is political because Article 82 of the agreement directly allows one party - and that is of the 27 member states - to suspend. If you think of the huge volume of trade between the EU and Israel, what would that do? That might send a signal that might save lives in Rafah if that was on the cards and was spoken about. That is meaningful action and it can be taken immediately. It does not need the Commission to do a review first. It is an early action that can be taken. Then on weapons, I want to signal that we will be bringing forward legislation on this too. We need to make sure there is no exemption given to any flight that passes through Ireland that may be carrying weapons designed to take lives in Gaza. Right now, there are exemptions to flights. We need to make sure no exemptions are given on flights which may be breaching international law and indeed the International Court of Justice in the clear signal it sent to the world on our collective responsibilities in protecting against genocide. I look forward to the Minister of State's response. There are other actions that can be taken. We have a list of them and will keep thinking of new actions. For everyone who can think of any action on any side of this House, the responsibility on all of us is to do all we can as soon as we can do it. South Africa has given a lead, we can join it in the ICJ case but also in a wider set of actions.
Ireland can lead, it should lead and it must lead on this.
I thank my Civil Engagement Group colleagues for using their Private Members' time to debate such an important issue. We had statements yesterday as well. Many colleagues contributed to the topic yesterday and made their views known.
Fianna Fáil welcomes this debate. It is important that we, here in the Seanad, with our Ministers continue to make sure that this issue is top of the agenda. It is rare that an international foreign affairs issue grasps the hearts and minds of the Irish people. It does not happen too often but this is one of them. The message has been received loud and clear, not only from all of those who emailed us because of today's motion but from all of those citizens who have been in contact since 7 October, and even before that. This is not a new issue but I suppose it entered a different phase, if I can put it that way, following 7 October. We have been engaging a lot with people across the country ever since then on what has been happening in Palestine and to the Palestinian people, particularly in Gaza.
I acknowledge, and it has been fairly acknowledged by Opposition Members, that Ireland was quick to call for an immediate ceasefire. There was no equivocation. There were no grey areas. The call was for a ceasefire now. We have continued to use our voice and our mandate on the international stage, at the UN and at an EU level to call for a ceasefire now and we have never wavered on that. We will never waver on that.
We can be proud of our own country, for being so strong and for sometimes remarkably being in the minority. Many of us cannot understand why other countries are finding it difficult to call it what it is and to call out what Israel is doing in Palestine as simply wrong, murderous and barbaric.
I am conscious that while we are debating a motion that is solely focused on Palestine, it is always important to acknowledge what happened on 7 October, the barbarity of it, how wrong it was and that there are still innocent Israeli hostages being held by Hamas who should also be released immediately. They are not bargaining chips. They are not to be used as a tool in a war between Hamas and the Israeli Government. That is important to say. For those families who are still awaiting the return of their loved ones, I can only imagine the despair that they are feeling as well.
It is important to acknowledge that at the outset when there were moves at an EU level to suspend aid to Palestine, Ireland stepped up and was one of four member states to stop that. We have continued to fund UNRWA when other countries decided not to do so. I believe that was the right thing to do. I understand the point being made that there were 12 or 13 individuals accused of being involved in the 7 October attack but the response to suspend all funding to the detriment of and with the severe impact it would have on people who are supported in Palestine by UNRWA is completely disproportionate and wrong. I am glad and proud to see that my country and my Government did not do that, committed a further €20 million and continued to support the vital work that is happening on the ground there.
We have also used our voice at the recent Munich Security Conference to advocate for a ceasefire and the release of all hostages and we continue to do so at the UN Security Council. I believe we are using our voice, as a small country but one that is respected internationally in terms of our long and proud history of peacekeeping and as a voice for peace internationally. We are respected in that regard and we are listened to. We will continue to use our voice to always advocate for peace, a two-state solution, an end to the conflict and the protection of civilian lives.
How this is allowed to continue for so long in this day and age, when we are literally watching, almost first hand, what is happening on the ground in Gaza, beggars belief. All of us could say we have no faith in Hamas to represent or look after the Palestinian people. I think that is accepted. It is a terrorist organisation. Israel seems to be on a path of, and completely blinded by, revenge. They will take a different view. They will say that they have a right to protect their people, and, of course, they do. They have a right to defend themselves but there comes a time when one crosses that line and I think they crossed the line a long time ago. I attempt to understand the pain they might be suffering when they await the return of those hostages who are still in captivity somewhere in Gaza.
We all continue to look to the US for leadership on this because there is belief internationally that it is probably the only country that has any real influence on Israel in bringing a stop to this. That is why it is so regrettable that the resolution of the UN Security Council was again vetoed. That is something that will be marked in history. Those who made that decision will have to live with that decision and the lives that have been lost since that decision was made.
The number of children who have been killed in the past number of months since 7 October is unthinkable but it is important that we talk about it. It is important that it is on the record and it is important that it is called out. There is no excuse. There is no rationale for it. There is no defence of what is happening on the ground in Gaza; when the Israeli Government and the IDF give notice, if we can call it that, to people to move out of an area because they intend to bomb it, whether it is a hospital or whatever - and it does not matter if one cannot physically move or is too sick, too small or too vulnerable, and there are people now in Rafah who have been displaced three or four times - one has to ask where they are supposed to go. They are literally up against a fence. Egypt will not let them in. They say that Israel controls their borders. I do not buy that either, by the way, and Egypt will have to answer for what it is doing in not accepting people. It is so rare that one has a conflict zone where people cannot get out. There is nowhere to go. One would have to ask why people were advised and told to move towards Rafah, as if one were funnelling people into a small area to make it so much easier to target and take them out. That is what it looks like. I am sure the IDF and the Israeli Government will deny that.
All I will say, as I note I am out of time, is that, as a country, we have to continue to advocate for peace and to push for a ceasefire now. I believe war crimes have been committed. Those responsible should be held to account and I hope to see that happening as soon as is possible. I say that while also accepting that there are processes to be followed - I understand all of that - and there are good reasons for having processes in place. However, those who are responsible for murdering innocent civilians need to be brought to justice in the international courts.
I thank, in particular, Senator Black because I suppose the first time I heard about Palestine was approximately 20 years ago thanks to her work. Most people know the Senator for her songs but I knew her for her work on Palestine. I got involved in a Palestinian support group to fundraise many years ago, thanks to the Senator. This did not start on 7 October. Far from it, it has been going on for decades.
This is an important motion. It is great to see the whole House supporting it; iis good that we are unified on this.
It is like Senator Higgins was saying, what can we do? Every week, at my party's parliamentary party meeting, we are all rattling our brains asking, "What else can we do?", because it is so difficult to sit by and see what is happening on a daily basis.
It is good that the Attorney General is going tomorrow to the International Court of Justice. This is going on since July last, but he will be heard tomorrow speaking on behalf of the Irish Government. That will be useful. It is the same criminal justice court that South Africa has been engaging with more recently. It is good that is happening. The court will hear from more than 50 countries over the course of the hearings. It will hear Ireland's Attorney General, Mr. Rossa Fanning SC, tomorrow morning. It is something, one is clutching at straws here.
I also found it amazing to see all the ordinary people of Ireland fundraising and going out on protests. It is so moving to see people taking action. We had a meeting with the Commissioner-General, Mr. Philippe Lazzarini, of UNRWA last week. It was amazing. Mr. Lazzarini explained how the money is so useful. It is brilliant that we put the €20 million in because Mr. Lazzarini said there is over €450 million in funding on pause from countries around Europe because of that stupid story that went out that has not even been proved right about people in UNRWA. Out of 30,000 employees, apparently 12 were involved with Hamas somehow, but one wonders is it true. Even if it is, out of 30,000 people, is that a reason to pause funding for these poor people of Palestine? It is insane. It is good that we decided to increase our funding to send a message out to other countries to, for God's sake, forget about that story around 12 people out of 30,000 and give the money to these people as they need it.
That is why we have to admire the people of Ireland so much more for all the fundraising they are doing. It was funny that the UNRWA guy was so happy the Irish Government was not talking about how many trucks are getting in because lots of countries are always asking about that. Mr. Lazzarini said the main thing is that we are getting stuff in and we need more of it. They are in dire straits over there. Mr. Lazzarini was saying even the local police there were usually helping UNRWA workers get to out of reach places and now so many of them have been killed that they are stopping doing that as well. It seems to be getting worse on a daily basis.
I and the TDs and Senators in my party's parliamentary party wrote a letter to every Minister of the Government who is visiting abroad over St. Patrick's weekend asking them to raise it as an issue with every leader of every country they visit, not only in America, with the Taoiseach giving the shamrock.
It is not just about going to London. We have to talk to everybody about this. It is really good we called out Ursula von der Leyen because she does not speak for us. It is really ironic because she is German and the Germans are selling weapons to Israel, which is just despicable. That is something else we have to call out here as well. We only have one voice each and we are small but we are mighty, as a country. We always have been. We have been calling out the Americans to call out Joe Biden. It is insane.
Netanyahu is a complete psychopath and he will not care. He even said today that he does not care about the International Court of Justice. The only way we will get the Israelis is through really strong sanctions. It is so important, what we are doing with Spain and getting other countries to vote as well. We have to get them. Obviously, all they care about is money and taking over the land because it does not seem like there is any other issue here. It is way beyond what happened on 7 October, bad and all as that was. That seems almost irrelevant now. The scale of the retribution is so far removed from any kind of revenge or the equality of getting them back an eye for an eye or a tooth for a tooth. It is way beyond that. It is deeply worrying when there is somebody of that kind of mental instability, just doing whatever he wants. He does not seem to care. The whole world is crying out.
It is still really important, and UNRWA has said this as well, to see people taking to the streets. It was interesting it said that we should not expel the Israeli ambassador but it is good that Irish people are standing on the streets saying, "We want them. We want the ambassador gone. We do not want to have anything to do with Israel on any level." I can see why we should hold on to the Israeli ambassador, and it is interesting UNRWA thinks we should, but it also thinks it is really good that Irish people are calling for her removal. It is interesting because one just do not know what the right thing to do is sometimes.
It is important as well that people have some hope in us as a Government, as an opposition and parties in government and that they do not think we do not care and that we could stop the war but we just could not be bothered. Sometimes I get messages from people telling me about children and mothers dying as if I do not care. We are all humans here. They need to know that we all care and care deeply, as Senator Higgins said. We are all trying to rack our brains as to what more we can do, as a small nation. As a small nation, we punch above our weight. There is always more we can do. We have to keep going, support this motion and support future things we can think of. The sanctions are a massive one. The only way to resolve it is diplomatically. I have serious concerns about that man's mental health. I do not know if he is insane or he is just so greedy and thinks he can wipe out the entire population of a country. We know, as Irish people, that the only way to resolve anything, because we did it in the North, is through diplomatic means. Unfortunately, Netanyahu will not meet Hamas so we need to create some other kind of a representation for the Palestinian people to go into negotiations with him. I am thankful for the motion and in particular to Senator Black.
According to the running order Fine Gael is next, then Senators Boylan, Flynn and Gavan. They can share time or contribute separately. Senator Doherty is next and will have six minutes.
I thank the Chair. First, I thank Senators Black and Higgins, not just for this particular motion and for the opportunity to debate yesterday. We have had multiple debates over the past number of years and if I was to be asked by anybody on the road tomorrow what the most important issue to Senator Black is, this is the one I associate most with her and that she has raised so often in this House. Her commitment to people, human dignity and social justice, as well as Senator Higgins, is absolutely unquestionable and I thank them for it.
I have received hundreds of emails over the past couple of days and I am embarrassed to say I have not been able to respond to all of them. I am pleased to be able to stand here tonight and support the Palestinian people. I have no notion as to what the Israeli people felt like after 7 October. They probably were enraged and suffering from shock, grief, horror, anger and everything. What we have seen over the past number of months is a people that have been absolutely blinded by rage. I can totally understand that a terrorist organisation that was responsible for a shocking event on 7 October needs to be responded to. However the tens of thousands of people, including 17,500 children, that we see on the hour every single day shaking on hospital trolleys, if there even are hospital trolleys because there are no hospitals left, is absolutely so shocking that it is nearly not believable. Except we know it absolutely is the truth.
I am reminded of the old saying, "The first casualty of war is the truth." No one can lie given the pictures we see. We can hear Israeli people and stories on the Internet that may or may not be true but they cannot lie with the pictures we see before our eyes. I saw an aerial picture of Gaza yesterday and there does not seem to be anything left except rubble. When I heard colleagues speaking earlier about mothers moving from one part of Rafah to another and then another, I do not know where they are moving to because when I look at the pictures, there is not anything left to move away from or to. Then we see on Israeli Twitter accounts pictures of beautiful beachside resorts where apparently this is what it looked like a couple of weeks ago. Their subterfuge or disinformation is to ask why the Palestinian people would have let all of this go to ruin. The only people who are responsible for the destruction of that picture, if it was ever true in the first place and I do not know whether it was, are the people who are waging war on innocent people. I have no doubt that in tunnels somewhere or maybe among even the 12 people in UNRWA, there were people who were intent on retaliating or attacking Israelis but it is totally and wholly completely disproportionate to the response we have seen from Israel over the past number of months.
The failure of the international community to hold the Israelis to account is very difficult to understand. When it boils down to it, I can only probably excuse politics in a certain way. When we consider large countries, there is probably a history to the response of some European countries and how they continue to support Israel. There is probably guilt and history within their DNA. Many countries that have absolutely nothing to do with memory or corporate DNA history are still standing idly by and not making charges against Israel. Senator Garvey referred to mad people, and one particular man, I do not even particularly blame him because there is an entire government and a whole agency of operations, both the real government and the permanent government in Israel, that is doing nothing but support their actions. It is really hard to understand.
That is why I am so proud of the response, not just of the Irish people, because that has been immense and probably long-standing. There has always been a really good connection between the Irish people and the Palestinian people because of our shared history. The response from our Government and our officials over the past couple of months was probably a very lonely position that was started by the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs. It was a very isolated position and people were very wary of what they were saying, and they were outliers. I am very proud of the position our Government and our people have taken. Some of the language that is being used, albeit it is an attempt to be diplomatic in what is an undiplomatic situation, started off a little bit softly. Words such as revenge are really strong and powerful. Those diplomatic efforts have managed to bring other countries along - obviously not as many as we would like but that momentum will change in the coming weeks and months. Ultimately, the person who needs to stand up, the strongest in the entire world, is the President of the United States. He needs to be really strong in his language. I heard last week that he said something on a phone call to the president of Israel. It is not good enough to say it on a phone call. It is really important we hear it loud and clear.
You also have to put your money where your mouth is. There is no point in telling them to stop doing something on the one hand and to keep giving them the arms to do it on the other. We either care about the destruction of an entire race of people and do something about it or everything else is just lip service. I thank the Senators for what they did today. I am really pleased this motion will pass unopposed this evening because we all share the shock, the horror and the revulsion at what is going on and we stand behind the people of Palestine.
Is fáilte an Aire. I echo the commendations for the Civic Engagement Group on bringing this motion to the Seanad. They speak day in and day out about the horror that is unfolding in Gaza. The one thing we see Palestinians say is, "Don't stop talking about it. You are our voices. Our lives depend on this." I am not the only one in saying that the feeling of powerlessness, frustration and hopelessness at the failure of the international community to act is soul destroying. That is why we have to keep talking and having these motions. It is important we follow up these words with those who have the ability to do so, with actions. It is right Ireland has been strong in its language but we need to follow through with actions.
Earlier today, there were reports from Damascus, the Syrian capital, that the Israeli army had conducted a precision strike on an apartment building and assassinated two people on the fifth floor. That makes two things clear. The first is how brazen the Israeli Government is about expanding this war into other territories and the second is that it highlights the incredibly surgical nature of the strike, which puts into sharp relief just how barbaric the wanton destruction of Gaza really is. There were no precision strikes in the attack on the Jabalia refugee camp, a supposed safe zone. They were treated to indiscriminate bombardment with 2,000 lb bombs.
We can be under no illusion at this stage. This is not a war of defence against Hamas; it is an effort to collectively punish the people of Gaza. It is the ethnic cleansing of the people of Gaza. It is a genocide. It is another Nakba. Some of these words lose the potency of their original meaning through misuse, but in this case they are not being misused in any shape or form. The motion lays out plainly and powerfully the statistics of what we are all witnessing in real time: 28,000 Palestinians have been killed; children are being slaughtered; 17,000 have been left without any surviving family; 1,000 children have had one or both legs amputated, many of them without anaesthetic; 122 journalists have been murdered; 152 UN officials have been killed, and 2.3 million people have been displaced. We have witnessed with our own eyes the aerial bombardment of the routes used by displaced people who were told they would be safe if they moved. We have seen the targeting of civilian infrastructure, including hospitals. On the way home, I heard on "Drivetime" that no food has been delivered into northern Gaza in three weeks. There is no baby formula. Parents are resorting to feeding their children cat food, for as long as that will last. This is the reality that is happening - the deaths and injuries and systematic destruction of Gaza's society. It is not collateral damage. It is a genocidal rage that is being meted out on an innocent population.
While all this slaughter is happening, the EU is dithering and playing political games with the lives of the people of Palestine. Instead of spending serious time and effort calling for a ceasefire, we have seen the President of the European Commission give unconditional and unqualified support to Netanyahu's genocidal onslaught. She claimed she speaks for Europe, but she undermined efforts for a ceasefire. She could have saved countless lives in Gaza. Competency for foreign policy at European level lies with the European Council, at which each member state has a veto. Von Der Leyen has completely overstepped the mark and the power of her office. She has caused more division than Brexit to the so-called European project and she should not be given a second term in office. I urge my colleagues in the Green Party and Fianna Fáil to ensure that Ursula Von Der Leyen does not serve a second term at the European Commission.
Well said.
I welcome the decision of the Taoiseach to call on the European Commission to urgently review the EU-Israel association agreement, but I argue that real action would be to trigger Article 82 to immediately suspend the association agreement while a review is being conducted. It is worth comparing this with the actions in respect of UNRWA and the allegations relating to 12 UNRWA workers. That number might have whittled down to eight workers. We have seen no evidence in that regard. Israel will not provide the evidence to anybody. However, there was no call for a review of UNRWA funding by the European countries that stopped it. They just took a decision to stop funding. I welcome that Ireland was not one of those countries but, rather, has actually increased its funding to the agency. That was an important gesture. It is the type of action of which we need to see more. It is clear there is a concerted effort to undermine, or even abolish, the lifeline of UNRWA. funding. It is no coincidence that the release of those allegations coalesced with the timing of proceedings at the ICJ.
It is now beyond dispute that Israel is committing war crimes in Gaza. The Government has an obligation to take further action. We need to set timeframes for when we will recognise the state of Palestine. We need to enact the Illegal Israeli Settlements Divestment Bill and the occupied territories Bill. We need to join the ICJ genocide case against Israel, employ sanctions and use every diplomatic tool we have at our disposal. Strong words are simply not good enough at this point.
I thank the Minister of State for coming to the Chamber and the Civil Engagement Group for its detailed motion. I thank Senator Black for all her advocacy and for continually raising in the House the plight of Palestinians through many years. As Senator Garvey said, this is not just about 7 October and life after that. It is obviously over many years. I also thank Senator Higgins for her work.
There are almost 30,000 dead, another 70,000 or more missing or injured and 50,000 pregnant women with little or no healthcare. We have heard all the shocking stories of Caesarean sections being carried out with no anaesthetic and no access to any dignity, let alone decent healthcare, in giving birth. There are thousands of children in starvation and malnourishment. To be honest, I am not sure words matter anymore. Since 7 October, we have all issued thousands of words appealing to the Israeli Government, pleading with it to immediately cease its war and genocide on the Palestinian people, but it is not listening. The Israeli Government has not been forced to listen. Instead, it has become emboldened. The language of dehumanisation and ethnic cleansing is becoming commonplace in the Knesset. We have seen a conference on the victory of Israel and open talk about the forced migration of Palestinians out of Gaza and the effect of annihilation of Gaza. We are seeing disgusting disinformation, with spokespersons talking about the threat of Hamas being everywhere, which means nowhere, not even hospitals or schools, is sacrosanct or sacred anymore. There have been shocking threats of the annihilation of Gaza. A member of the Israeli Government has referred to 2 million Palestinians in the West Bank as Nazis. The Israeli Government will stop at nothing. We are even seeing the appalling exploitation of those who are currently facing housing shortages in Israel. People who are victim to a housing crisis are being lured into a situation where they are forced to become settlers.
While we are glued to our screens and talking about Gaza, 300 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank between October and December. The UN has talked about incidents of sexual violence by members of the Israel Defense Forces against Palestinian women and children, yet that does not get coverage. If words do not work anymore, we need to send a signal to make Israel listen. We need to talk about financial sanctions against any company that operates in the illegal settlements. That does not just mean pulling the ISIF money out of the companies that are currently operating there. It means actually imposing financial and trade sanctions against these companies. We need financial sanctions against Israeli ministers. The Israeli Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has talked about nuking Gaza, sending all Gazans to Ireland and resettling Gaza. He is, in effect, cultivating and stirring up a hatred of Palestinians. The Israeli Minister of Finance, Bezalel Yoel Smotrich, has called 2 million Palestinians in the West Bank Nazis. There are no consequences for any of this.
The Irish State needs to be brave and to impose sanctions both on the illegal settlements and on those Ministers who are effectively perpetrating and propagating a war of genocide on the Palestinian people.
The Israeli state earns €20 billion from trading goods and services with the European Union every year. How can the European Union call itself a peace project and still continue to have a free trade agreement with a country that is currently committing genocide? I absolutely support the many calls made for an immediate suspension of the Israel–EU free trade agreement. I welcome the efforts by the Irish Government to date but we have to go further. We have to act unilaterally at this stage because there have been fundamental breaches of the association agreement. We will not achieve anything by waiting for a consensus at European Council level.
I commend the additional funding made available to UNRWA when other countries disgracefully turned their back on the organisation. We need more than words at this stage. Words have failed, so we need to recognise the state of Palestine, progress the occupied territories Bill and unilaterally impose sanctions. It is ironic that the US and France have imposed sanctions on settlers but we know they are not of much use. However, we can impose sanctions and send a message to the rest of the world that we are not content to keep up the false pretence of saying one thing while continuing to trade elsewhere.
The time for words is over. We need to do much more. I thank my colleague in the Civil Engagement Group for tabling this important motion.
I warmly welcome the guests of Senator Horkan, namely the Estonian ambassador, her husband and their guest, Etienne Rapacki. They are very welcome to Seanad Éireann today. This is a timely debate about Palestine put forward by the Civil Engagement Group. It is receiving cross-party support, so naturally it is important. I thank our guests for coming here. I hope they enjoy the rest of their visit with Senator Horkan.
I acknowledge the importance of this motion and how comprehensive it is. It is not a short document. It amounts to five pages on the Order Paper. It contains much by way of suggestions on what we can actually do. It is constructive and positive. If the Government were in any doubt about what avenues were open to it, this motion would offer suggestions. I am not necessarily saying every suggestion is open to us but I agree with the motion. The Civil Engagement Group, particularly Senator Black, to whom I have spoken on this issue many times, has identified in the motion a series of comprehensive actions that this State can and should take.
I wish to focus in particular on the suggestion that we trigger Article 82 of the EU-Israel association agreement. That is a key aspect of this. Twenty-five percent of Israeli external trade is with the European Union. This is an area in which we can have a very strong impact on Israel. There has been much talk about obligations on countries like the United States, which unfortunately does not have a good track record in being upfront with its allies in Israel regarding their behaviour, respect for the rule of law and respect for observing international legal principles. All of that is true but there is something the European Union can actually do. There is a specific clause on human rights breaches in the agreement that we can trigger. Undoubtedly and indisputably, there is such a breach and there is no way that Israel can ignore that. If a quarter of its exports are affected, it will have an impact and it will have to sit up and listen. Unfortunately, we cannot act unilaterally. It is something that has to be done across the European Union. However much I would like us to trigger the clause, I do not believe we can. Therefore, I am not sure how reasonable it is to suggest we should be proceeding unilaterally. However, we should be working within the Council and at every level of government and diplomacy to convince those countries in Europe that might have an historical justification for what they are doing that they need to take action.
Hamas's actions on 7 October were unforgivable and disgusting. Those of us in a stable democracy like Ireland find it difficult to comprehend the amount of terrorism meted out by Hamas against Israeli people. I said in this Chamber this week that Hamas has sacrificed its own citizens on the altar of its ambition. It is children, families and women – innocent civilians in the Gaza Strip – who are now suffering the military onslaught of Israel. What Hamas did in acting selfishly on 7 October was spark an indescribable reaction from Israel. I am very proud of the Government of Ireland for calling it out and using the words "revenge" and "vengeful" about the actions of the Israeli Government. There is no doubt that its actions are disproportionate, illegal, genocidal, terroristic and appalling in every sense. They are totally disproportionate to what was done but that has always been the way in Israel–Palestine relations. When an Israeli person, be it a soldier or innocent civilian, is killed by a terrorist attack by one of the Palestinian organisations, the response from Israel is tenfold. It has always been that way. Unfortunately, for many years, for decades and generations, it has not been called out on this. The countries of the West, including the US and member states of the European Union, and other countries around the world have not comprehensively called Israel out for its breaches of international law. Reference has been made to illegal settlements. There is not a single reputable international lawyer in the world who does not consider the behaviour of Israel in the West Bank and elsewhere, in terms of claiming land that is not its own, as absolutely illegal, yet Israel has been allowed to behave in this way continually.
Sanctions have not stopped Israel from doing this and did not force it to make settlers leave. The only time we have had any kind of movement on this was in 2005, when there was disengagement from the Gaza Strip. However, right across the West Bank, tracts of land that belong to Palestinians are being swallowed up by Israeli settlers with the support and protection of the Israel Defense Forces. I remember talking to a settler who had set up a vineyard. He claimed that Palestinians had been living there for hundreds of years and could never grow anything but that God provided when he came along. He could spring up vines and produce wine because that was God's will. He did not mention the irrigation equipment worth millions of euro that came with his farm to grow the vines. This is now the selective approach of Israeli settlers and the Israeli Government to these things.
Let us send out a message to Israel that it is not fooling anyone and that it is breaking the law all the time. It is now not just breaking the law in terms of gathering land but is doing so through slaughtering innocents, including children, who have nothing to do with its conflict and its persecution complex, which may well be justifiable in an historical context but which can never justify what is happening in Gaza today, including the death toll and the murder. That is what it is. It is the murder of innocent people who have nothing to do with Israel’s conflict. It is wading in with its machine of war. Whether it is today, tomorrow or in a year’s time, there will be consequences for Israel. There have to be, whether at the International Court of Justice or the International Criminal Court. Israel is not immune from this. It may not be a signatory to the Rome Statute or part of the International Criminal Court but there has already been a ruling that jurisdiction extends to what happens in the Gaza Strip. Therefore, the military figures and politicians who have provided for this onslaught against innocent civilians will have to answer. It is genocide, a crime against humanity and murder. None of these crimes can go unpunished. Let us send a message to Israel now that it will not get away with it, it is fooling no one and the consequences are coming.
Over the past few weeks, I have been questioning where humanity is in the world. Over 28,000 Palestinian people have been killed in Gaza in recent weeks and more than 11,500 of those were children. More than 17,000 Palestinian children are left by themselves. Every single night since 7 October, when I am at home with my two little girls, hugging them and putting them into bed, I have thought of the mothers in Gaza, Palestine, who are tucking their children into bed and trying to comfort them. We have to bring this back to the question of human life, to what is going on right in front of our eyes and to this genocide.
The images we have been seeing lately have been very tough to watch. UNICEF officials speak of a young girl of 11 who was with her family in her uncle's house when it was bombed. She lost her mother, father, brother and two sisters, who were killed.
She was left badly injured and had to have her leg amputated. This is an 11-year-old child now living in Rafah, which will be Israel's next target. If more than 28,000 Europeans had been killed in recent weeks, including more than 11,000 children, would the global response be so slow? I think we all know the answer to that question.
As has been said by colleagues in the House, I do not have the words. We have to move beyond words. It is a step in the right direction to support Senator Black and the Civil Engagement Group motion. I thank Senator Black. In her previous term in the Seanad, she also worked hard for people in Palestine. Until Palestinian people are free, none of us is really free.
I will end with Palestinian poet and professor Dr. Refaat Alareer, who was killed in an Israeli air strike in December:
If I must die you must live to tell my story to sell my things to buy a piece of cloth and some strings, (make it white with a long tail) so that a child, somewhere in Gaza while looking heaven in the eye awaiting his dad who left in a blaze— and bid no one farewell not even to his flesh not even to himself— sees the kite, my kite you made, flying up above and thinks for a moment an angel is there bringing back love If I must die let it bring hope let it be a tale.
That is from Dr. Refaat, who was killed in December. Let all of the 30,000 plus people killed in Gaza have died for something, for changing the world and making it a better place. I thank the Minister of State for his part in the cross-party support this evening.
It is good to have the Leas-Chathaoirleach in the Chair. It is an issue that has been close to his heart in the past. I welcome the Minister of State and congratulate the Civil Engagement Group for its passion and for this comprehensive motion, which is a roadmap for what can, should and must be done. I commend all speakers so far this evening. It is great we can send a unified message on this issue to the Government. That is what the Minister of State is getting this evening and that is important.
The difficulty is you run out of words to describe what we are seeing. The statistics are awful: 28,000 Palestinian civilians, at least, murdered, including 70% women and children. Of course, the statistics do not really do it. I am thinking of the images I have seen in the past couple of days. I will bring three to the Minister of State's attention. The first is the young couple married in the rubble about a week ago, and then they were blown up and murdered three days after their wedding. Then there are the images of Palestinians trying to get relief from food trucks and being gunned down by the IDF, literally murdered. Then there is the video the IDF made afterwards. We know people are starving in Gaza so the IDF troops made a video of themselves enjoying a feast and showing off all the food they had to the Palestinians they are currently starving to death. It is beyond horror. I have never seen anything like it in my lifetime.
We need a ceasefire and there is a unified call from here this evening for an immediate ceasefire. There are two main obstacles to that: the first is the far right, disgusting, apartheid Government in Israel; equally, we must be clear, and it has been made clear by others, about the US's responsibility in this regard. It voted against a call for an immediate ceasefire yesterday for the third time. It begs the question: have they not seen enough people die yet? What will it take for them to do the right thing? Any of us from any party travelling to the US next month has to make that abundantly clear in the starkest terms. This is something fundamentally wrong which must change. We must make that call as clearly and strongly as we can.
The next issue I want to talk about is my experience in Europe on this issue. I am lucky enough to be a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and I watched first hand as a strong call for an immediate ceasefire was undermined. I am just being honest and do not want to divide the House, but we saw members of the Renew group, ALDE and almost all members of the EPP align with the far right in Europe's human rights assembly to undermine the call for a ceasefire. I want to make it clear the Irish delegation did not take part in that. It was a shameful thing to see.
Others have mentioned Ursula von der Leyen. She gave cover for the genocide that is happening. She gave unqualified support to Netanyahu to carry out what he is doing at a pivotal time when Israel was escalating its action. I make no apologies for calling on the Fine Gael MEPs currently endorsing von der Leyen for a second term to change their minds. How on earth can you endorse someone who gave cover for genocide? I call on anyone interested in running for Europe and our existing MEPs to be clear on that. There should be no equivocation in relation to her disgraceful role in what has happened.
Above all, I echo Senator Higgins's call for the Government to be brave. I commend the actions it has taken, particularly to support UNWRA and the clear words we have heard, but the people tuning in tonight want to hear a message that we will go beyond words and take actions. Those actions include passing the occupied territories Bill and the divestment Bill. I expect that Bill will be back in the Dáil either next week or the week after and there will be no room for equivocation. The Government must support the Bill because it is within its power to do so.
There are many references in this excellent motion to the word "apartheid". I invite the Minister of State to ensure his Government comes off the fence on this term. It does not matter whether I think Israel is an apartheid state; it matters that Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch say it is an apartheid state. The UN Special Rapporteur recognises it is an apartheid state. More than 450 separate NGOs recognise Israel is an apartheid state. I ask the Minister of State to please not duck this issue in his response and to acknowledge that Israel is an apartheid state, as all of those human rights bodies have done. It is important. Language matters. We need to hear that from the Minister of State this evening and we need the actions we can take to be taken. People want to see leadership. Unfortunately, we will not see it at EU level and that means we need a coalition of the willing. We need to see these actions taken. I want to hear the Minister of State say he will do so.
It was in Fianna Fáil's manifesto and the Green Party's manifesto to endorse the occupied territories Bill. Surely Fine Gael is no longer opposed to that point of view? Let us see action. The people of Ireland expect action.
My last point is this. I cannot help but see the contrast with the treatment meted out to Russia - correctly, with regard to its illegal invasion of Ukraine - including the 13 rounds of sanctions against them and the summoning of their ambassador. Why have we not summoned the Israeli ambassador? How many more people have to die before the Government does that? I believe she should be expelled and if the Government does not agree with that, at least, for God's sake, summon her. If the Government did it to the Russian ambassador yesterday, why has it waited this long to do it to the Israeli ambassador?
I have taken too much time, a Leas-Chathaoirligh, and I appreciate that. I acknowledge that we all agree on much this evening but the people watching tonight want to see action from this Government and this motion sets out those actions. I ask the Minister of State to ensure that those actions are taken and followed up. We need to do better.
First, I thank Senators Black, Ruane, Flynn and Higgins for bringing forward this motion here today. It should be generally understood by now but I confirm that the Government is not opposing the motion. It is a very extensive motion that condemns a number of actions. It notes, with grave concern, a number of other issue, further regrets several other items and further notes a number of points put forward by the Senators. It calls on the Government to take specific action, and calls on the Council of the European Union to also take certain actions. We are taking action by supporting that call that has been put forward here and the Government is not opposing the motion tonight. It is important that on such an important issue that the House can speak with one voice, as we are doing here this evening.
Our debate coincides with deepening concerns at the situation in Gaza and intensifying international efforts. As the Government set out in the House yesterday, Ireland is at the heart of these efforts. Both the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste have undertaken extensive engagement at EU and international level over the past weeks, and this will continue. Tomorrow, the Attorney General will present Ireland's analysis of Israel's occupation of Palestine to the International Court of Justice. I continue to work closely with my EU and international counterparts to press for increased humanitarian and development assistance and I am proud of the leadership role that Ireland is playing in that regard.
I will first focus on the current situation on the ground and engagement at international level. It was clear from our debate yesterday that the House shares the deep sense of shock and despair at what has taken place in Israel and Gaza since 7 October. The Government has consistency and unequivocally condemned the attacks launched by Hamas on and since 7 October. We have underlined and will continue to underline that the rape and murder of civilians, destruction of civilian property, taking of hostages, use of human shields and indiscriminate firing of rockets at urban centres are serious violations of international humanitarian law. We have called and continued to call for all hostages to be released.
However, we have been equally clear that international law limits the use of force in self-defence to no more than is necessary and proportionate. Ireland's view is that these limits are being exceeded. The number of deaths reported is now approximately 30,000 people. This is a shocking reality.
Reports and statistics are presented to us on a daily basis that must also serve to underline the urgency of international action. Yesterday, the World Health Organization characterised the destruction around Nasser hospital as "indescribable". Last week, the UN Population Fund emphasised the particular vulnerabilities facing women. Everyone in Gaza is hungry, including 50,000 pregnant women, with malnutrition making them more susceptible to disease and less able to recover. This obviously leads to an increase in the number of miscarriages.
The catastrophic humanitarian situation and damage to infrastructure will also leave lasting scars, especially for children. The UN reports that more than 625,000 students and nearly 23,000 teachers in the Gaza Strip have been affected by school closures and attacks on education, including universities, leaving them with no access to education or safe places. Some 80% of school buildings in Gaza have sustained damage, including 142 schools that have sustained major damage or were destroyed.
Against this backdrop, the Government continues to use all relevant possibilities and engagements to urge international progress at the highest political level towards an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, the immediate and unconditional release of hostages, the protection of civilians and the significant scaling-up of fully safe and unhindered humanitarian access to all the people of Gaza. Following the discussion at the Foreign Affairs Council, 26 EU member states agreed a statement urging Israel not to proceed with an offensive in Rafah and to abide by the ICJ provisional measures, which are binding, and calling for an immediate humanitarian pause leading to a sustainable ceasefire. However, it remains vital that the international community as a whole unites around the need for an immediate ceasefire, including the UN Security Council. It is deeply regrettable that the US chose to veto a resolution at the council this week, which called for exactly that. This only deepens our conviction that the veto is an anachronism and has no place in the 21st century. These issues were central to the engagement of both the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste at the Munich Security Conference last weekend, and was forcibly reiterated by the Tánaiste to his EU counterparts on Monday of this week.
There are priorities that I have also underlined in my engagement with EU development ministers. Ireland, as I have stated, has a central message in that engagement at all levels and our message is there needs to be a dramatic upscaling in the level of humanitarian aid reaching the people of Gaza. It is both regrettable and irresponsible that the future of one of the key agencies in delivering such assistance is being put to severe risk at this time, that is, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine, UNRWA. I welcome that Commissioner-General Lazzarini was afforded the opportunity to address a meeting of EU development ministers, which I was pleased to attend earlier this month. He underlined that UNRWA is the backbone of humanitarian response and a lifeline for millions of refugees across the region. It is my belief that this message was heard clearly by my EU counterparts, as was my own call on those who have suspended funding to urgently rescind their decisions, including the European Commission itself.
It is absolutely clear that the allegations made against 12 UNRWA staff are extremely serious. These staff had their contracts terminated and an immediate investigation by the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services was announced. That investigation must be completed, must be comprehensive and should be done as soon as possible. I urge Israel to co-operate fully with that investigation. At the meeting I was at last week, it was indicated that there is a hope this could be done by 20 April. I also welcome that the UN Secretary General has announced the appointment of an independent review group led by former French foreign minister Catherine Colonna. This will assess, more broadly, how UNRWA is ensuring neutrality and responding to any allegations of serious breaches that may arise. However, it is equally clear that an organisation that employees 13,000 people in the Gaza Strip alone and which enjoys a robust mandate from the United Nations General Assembly cannot and should not be impugned on the alleged conduct of 12 individuals.
Even more vitally, UNRWA provides a lifeline to 1.9 million people displaced by Israel's military operations. There is no replacement for UNRWA's work in Gaza. I think everybody accepts that the work it does is irreplaceable and there is no amount of NGOs that have the infrastructure to carry out what would be needed. We want to ensure that UNRWA can continue its work. That is why Ireland has demonstrated clear leadership through its allocation of a further €20 million to UNRWA last week. This additional allocation supplements our ongoing, long-standing financial commitment to UNRWA, which amounted to €18 million in 2023. The overall commitment to the Palestinian people in 2023 was €36 million, €20 million of which was provided in response to the conflict in Gaza. An airlift of 50 tonnes of Irish humanitarian supplies, including tents, took place on 15 December last. These were also distributed in Gaza in January through Ireland's rapid response initiative.
In addition to direct support, Ireland also provided globally prepositioned funds to the UN central emergency response fund to support the Gaza response in 2023. Ireland is the tenth largest contributor to this fund, which had allocated $15 million to the Gaza Strip by December.
I can assure the House that Ireland’s efforts are also focused on the situation in the West Bank, where the UN reports that 393 Palestinians, including 100 children, have been killed since 7 October. The UN has also reported that “since 7 October, settlers, with the political backing of key ministers, are taking advantage of a generally permissive environment to accelerate displacement of Palestinians from their land, raising concerns of forcible transfer seeking to create facts on the ground making the existence of a viable Palestinian state almost impossible”.
This is why Ireland has strongly supported proposals for EU sanctions to be adopted against violent settlers in the West Bank who are attacking and displacing Palestinian communities. At the Foreign Affairs Council on Monday, it was clear that 26 member states are ready to move ahead with this. The US, UK and France have already done so. If it is not possible to achieve consensus over the coming period, which, regrettably, may be the case, Ireland will move ahead in conjunction with other EU partners to implement national measures. There are provisions in national legislation to exclude people from entering the State and officials are examining options for such measures.
Ireland continues to consistently raise these issues with the Israeli authorities, including in partnership with our partners on the ground. We also continue our financial support for civil society organisations working in the field of human rights and accountability, as well as the West Bank Protection Consortium, the work of which includes supporting vulnerable Palestinians in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, from individual and mass forcible transfer through the provision of material and humanitarian assistance and legal aid.
Furthermore, the position of Ireland and the international community on the matter of Israeli settlements remains crystal clear: they are illegal under international law. This week, the International Court of Justice in The Hague is holding public hearings in the advisory proceedings on Israel’s occupation of Palestine. I welcome that Ireland’s Attorney General will appear before the court in The Hague tomorrow, where he will set out in detail Ireland’s legal analysis of Israel’s occupation of Palestine. The Government is also continuing its analysis of the legal and policy aspects of South Africa’s case under the genocide convention and is in ongoing contact with South Africa and other like-minded partners. We will take a decision on intervention once we have completed this comprehensive legal and policy analysis. As the Tánaiste has set out, it is likely that we will make a final decision on the matter once South Africa files its written memorial.
In November 2023, the Government also announced that it would make a voluntary contribution of €3 million to the International Criminal Court. This announcement was made shortly after the ICC prosecutor highlighted the urgent resource needs of his office during his visit to the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza. This was in addition to our annual contribution, which was €1.4 million in 2023. It is because of these contributions that the International Criminal Court is in a position to carry out its work and take on the extra work that people have been calling for. The assistance that we have provided to date is giving it the funds to enable it to do that as it would not be able to carry out these investigations without appropriate funds. These actions reflect the centrality of international law to the policies that we adopt, both domestically and in the international sphere.
Further, the Government has been clear in rejecting unilateral initiatives that run contrary to legal advice, such as the Occupied Territories Bill, which would not be compatible with EU law and not implementable in that situation. This would undermine our broader promotion of compliance with international law at the UN and other international organisations. We want to work collectively on the broader promotion of international law and any law that is not implementable or compatible with EU law would be a contradiction of this.
The Government’s approach is to engage in meaningful initiatives that influence the situation on the ground and seek to shape the political and legal landscape underpinning international policy and action. This is why the Attorney General is presenting our detailed and rigorous analysis to the International Court of Justice tomorrow. This is why the Taoiseach has requested that the European Commission undertake a review of Israel’s compliance with the human rights provisions of the association agreement. This is why Ireland is working with EU partners to adopt sanctions against violent settlers in the West Bank who are attacking and displacing Palestinian communities. This is why Ireland has led by example by increasing its funding to UNRWA and has called on all of our partners to follow suit. This is why humanitarian assistance, as well as long-term development support to the Palestinian people, remain a central priority for me, as Minister of State with responsibility for development. This is why the Government will continue its extensive engagement and diplomatic outreach to secure an immediate ceasefire and to restore a pathway towards a sustainable peace based on the two-state solution. This approach has been set out in several motions adopted by the Dáil since the onset of this crisis and it is the approach that the Government will continue to pursue.
Let me start by thanking the Minister of State and the Government for not opposing this motion. It is not often that we are unified on something here in the Chamber and I am just blown away by the fact that it is on Palestine that we are unified. I feel quite emotional, so I ask Members to bear with me. I have been very passionate about Palestine for many years, as my colleagues in the Civil Engagement Group have been. As I was listening tonight, I was thinking back to when I visited Gaza in 2018, the amazing people I met there and the spirit of the people. I do not know if they are dead. I do not know if they are alive. I remember that when I was in Gaza back then, one woman who was with a human rights organisation, a wonderful women's group, asked: “Why has the international community abandoned us?” Those words stay with me every time I look at social media and every time I see what the Israelis are doing. Why has the international community abandoned the people of Gaza and allowed them to be murdered on an hourly basis? To see those children is just horrific.
I am so happy that we can be unified on this issue. Members have no idea what it will mean to the people of Palestine and the people of Gaza. It may not mean much to some people because it is a Seanad motion but the message that gets sent out now to the people of Palestine and the people of Gaza is just a little ray of hope that Ireland cares, the Irish Government cares and the Irish people care. That is unbelievable. I cannot even explain what that means to them.
With regard to the Occupied Territories Bill, which I want to highlight, I have to disagree with the Attorney General's advice. We saw that many eminent EU lawyers saw it and said it is compatible with EU law, so I have to push back on that a little bit. I would love it if the Attorney General would show us his advice, and I would like to see that.
I want to highlight another point. When Irish representatives go abroad for St. Patrick’s Day, especially to the US, it is so important to send a message that the recognition of Palestine is key to future peace and the two-state solution, but it is also very important to push for a permanent ceasefire now. I really hope they will do that.
I thank the officials of the Department for the work they are doing on Palestine, and I mean that from the bottom of my heart. They are doing phenomenal work and I cannot imagine what it is like for them on a daily basis to be looking at the horrors that are going on over there.
I wanted to highlight that as well.
Before I finish I will highlight another issue because I left it out when I spoke earlier. I will try to be as quick as I can. In 1948, Zionist militias ethnically cleansed 750,000 people from 522 villages in what is now Israel. They did this by massacring almost the entire population of villages like Deir Yassin near Jerusalem and Tantura near Haifa. They used the ensuing panic to incite Palestinians to flee across the border. Most Palestinians expected to return in a few weeks and kept - this is what breaks my heart - their house keys to prove ownership. They were never allowed to return. Imagine if that was in Ireland. Could the Minister of State imagine if that was done down where he is from in Laois? It could equally be in Mayo where someone is told to get out of their home but that they will be allowed to return. However, that never happens here. It is an awful situation. Most of the people driven out in 1948 died in refugee camps or were scattered to the four corners of the earth. Palestinians call this the Nakba, which translates as the "catastrophe". Some 80% of the population of Gaza are descendants of 1948 refugees. Now Israel wants to permanently remove them from historic Palestine. It truly is an atrocity. I hope this motion sends a signal of hope to the people of Palestine. I would love if we could bring this motion to the Dáil as well and get cross-party support.
I thank the Minister of State and the Government for supporting the motion. It means so much to us. It makes me very proud, as an Irishwoman, to be living in this country. Hopefully we will be able to do more. It is now about taking action on the basis of this motion and doing all the things contained in it. Let us take action and get working on it.
Well said.
Well said.
We can all agree that an immediate and sustainable ceasefire and the unconditional release of all hostages are paramount. The unhindered access of humanitarian aid is also vital for all those who are now suffering in Gaza. While every country has the right to defend itself, it must do so within international and humanitarian law.
The recent statement by 26 EU member states is to be welcomed. Unfortunately, it was not made by all 27 members, but we are aware of what needs to happen. What happened on 7 October has been condemned consistently by all Members of both Houses. It should never be allowed to happen again. However, what is now happening in Gaza is not going to bring the peace that everybody knows is required if future generations are not to continue to relive the mistakes of previous generations.
Question put and agreed to.
When is it proposed to sit again?
Tomorrow at 9.30 a.m.
Cuireadh an Seanad ar athló ar 8.33 p.m. go dtí 9.30 a.m., Déardaoin, an 22 Feabhra 2024.
The Seanad adjourned at 8.33 p.m. until 9.30 a.m. on Thursday, 15 February 2024.