This week, the world expressed its horror, revulsion and outrage at the barbaric treatment of children by the Trump Administration at the US-Mexico border and the horrific practice of separating thousands of minors from their parents. It seems that the revulsion both in the US and across the world, including from this House, has forced President Trump to make something of a U-turn, although as thousands of children still remain in custody we will see what happens and I still will attend the protest at the US embassy this evening.

My question, and I am glad the Tánaiste is here to respond, is whether we are going to be consistent in expressing our outrage and revulsion at abuse and barbaric treatment of children because, of course, the place where this has gone on year in and year out for at least the past 20 years and which is probably the most dangerous place in the world to be a child is Gaza and the Palestinian territories, where the facts of the abuse, murder and imprisonment of children and the denial of basic rights, resources and supports by Israel in a cruel, calculated and deliberate way is simply shocking beyond belief. One Palestinian child has been killed every three days on average for the past 18 years by members of the Israeli military. In the past few weeks, 14 children have been killed and more than 1,000 injured by the Israeli military in Gaza. There are approximately 350 children in prison at present, some of whom have received sentences of up to ten years. The horror just goes on. The Save the Children organisation says that about 90% of children in Gaza are suffering psychological trauma as a result of the various Israeli offensives over the past number of years and that about 78% of children in Gaza cannot sleep at night properly because of a fear of attacks by the Israeli military and war planes.

At what point do we express outrage and revulsion at this and do something about it? Nelson Mandela's grandson recently said that Israel's apartheid was worse than that practised in South Africa and called for the boycott of Israel, as did his grandfather, Nelson Mandela, and Desmond Tutu. What are we going to do about the barbaric treatment of children by Israel? Will we join in the call to at the very least boycott the Eurovision Song Contest in Tel Aviv next year in order that we do not give legitimacy to a regime that treats children in such a barbaric fashion using the ultimate form of separation, namely, killing and imprisoning children and denying them the most basic rights and entitlements?

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I welcome the fact that the President of the United States signed an order last night to ensure there would no longer be separation of children from their parents on the border with Mexico. Approximately 2,300 children are still separated from their parents in holding centres and I hope the debate that is taking place in Congress today can deal with that issue comprehensively. I understand two items of legislation are being brought forward. I do not know whether they will be passed but certainly there is an active political debate trying to deal comprehensively with this issue following the outrage of many in the US and around the world who were dismayed by the images they saw in recent days of thousands of young children in very vulnerable and distressing circumstances.

As the Deputy knows, I have a real interest in the Middle East peace process. I have been there three times in the past year. I visited Gaza in January. I have been very vocal in this House in my criticism of the Israeli response, particularly on the Gaza border, and the tragedy and bloodshed that has happened there in recent weeks. My focus as a politician and senior Minister in government is on trying to ensure that Ireland can be as influential as possible in trying to bring an end to that. Ultimately, the only way we can provide long-term solutions for Palestinians is to make progress on a broader political peace deal for which Ireland is actively agitating. That is what colours all the decisions I make. What can Ireland do as a country and what can we do as a Government to advance the cause of a two-state solution that can allow Palestinians to aspire to having their own state living in peace with their neighbour, Israel? This seems like a long way away right now given the tragedies we have seen in recent weeks and the tension that remains. I was in Ramallah, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Jordan and Cyprus talking about these issues only a couple of weeks ago. We will continue to do that, just as we will continue to advocate for funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East, UNRWA, which looks after some of the most vulnerable people in Gaza and the West Bank and indeed Palestinian refugees in Jordan and Lebanon.

I do not believe that we are advancing the cause of Palestinians by calling for or supporting a boycott right now. That would polarise things even further. I am not sure we can legally do that anyway because trade policy is the competence of the EU as a collective. I need to remain an influential and vocal advocate for positive change in Israel and Palestine within the EU and among the countries that have influence on getting results in that regard. That is why I follow the course of action I have been following.

Politics, two-state solutions, one-state solutions, engagement - blah, blah, blah - we are talking about children. These are innocent children who are in prison; who are being killed, maimed or shot, who do not have proper schools and who cannot sleep because of fear of Israeli assaults. This goes beyond any of that other stuff. The world set aside politics when it came to the treatment of children in the past few weeks in the US and said we are not accepting this. The same has to happen with Israel. We have had 22 years of engagement with Israel since the Oslo Accords and its treatment of children and denial of rights has got worse, not better. Engagement has not worked.

I have a simple question for the Tánaiste. Was the world right to boycott apartheid-era South Africa? Is there a time when it is right to boycott an apartheid state? If it was right and if Nelson Mandela, the world, the Dunnes Stores strikers and this country were right to do it in the case of South Africa, how is it not right to do it to a state that is behaving in a worse fashion than apartheid-era South Africa? As even Nelson Mandela's grandson says that Israeli apartheid is worse than that practised in South Africa, should we not heed his call, as someone who knows, to at least boycott the Eurovision Song Contest?

Sometimes when I hear the Deputy speak, he seems to suggest that he is coming from a higher moral ground than the Government on these issues. He is not. We care about this issue. That is why I am engaging as much as I am on it. I have probably spent more time on the Middle East peace process than on anything else other than Brexit and our relationships in Europe and Washington. That is because we are trying to ensure that Ireland can maximise its leverage and influence in terms of the politics of this issue, which, ultimately, will be the issue that will protect children, many of whom I have met in schools and health centres in places like Gaza and the West Bank.

We do not actually disagree on the outcome we want. What we disagree on is the method of getting us there. I do not believe boycotts and protests alone will solve this issue.

It worked in South Africa.

It worked in South Africa but this is a very different case, if one looks at the politics of the Middle East right now. We are using the information, the judgment and the advice we have, as a Government, to prioritise this issue and to try to bring about political solutions. I do not believe advocating for a boycott will help in that effort.