Yesterday, a very dangerous and provocative march by thousands of flag-bearing Israeli ultra-nationalists and pro-settlers in East Jerusalem once again caused tensions to flare. This march was undoubtedly a show of force, with chanting of anti-Palestinian slogans, some of them deeply disturbing, such as "Death to Arabs" and "May your village burn". Unsurprisingly, this led to violence once again in Gaza and Israeli airstrikes have resumed. This is very troubling because the current ceasefire must be maintained and the violence must end. Has the Government engaged with the new Israeli Administration to relay the view of this Dáil, as recently expressed, regarding illegal settlement-building in Palestine and that these actions amount to de facto annexation and must cease? What progress has been made on that?

I am aware of the airstrikes overnight in response to the incendiary balloons launched from Gaza. We want all sides to respect the ceasefire. It is important that the ceasefire is made permanent and is long-term in nature, for the benefit of all the people across the entire region. All efforts must be made to ensure that is the case and we will be communicating that to the new Israeli Government. We wish the new Prime Minister and his Government the very best and hope their election will mark a change of direction. We want, as a country, to have a constructive engagement with the Israeli Government but we have been very consistent in our views, which we articulated to the previous Government and will articulate to the new Government, in respect of the resolution of the long-standing conflict in Palestine and the need for a two-state solution.