What has happened in recent days in Jenin in the West Bank "amount[s] to an egregious [violation] of international law and standards on the use of force and may constitute a war crime." They are not my words but those of experts from the United Nations. Twelve Palestinians were murdered by Israeli forces; five of them were children. Thousands were forced from their homes - which are in refugee camps, by the way. When they returned, many of those homes had been destroyed, water and electricity services were cut and roads had been bombarded. Israel had managed to make refugees out of refugees. For years, in defiance of UN resolutions, the Israeli Government has been carrying out indiscriminate attacks on Palestine as the occupation of the Palestinian territory and apartheid intensified. It is shameful.

This morning I met with the Palestinian ambassador to Ireland and I join the Ceann Comhairle in welcoming her to the House. I extended to her our solidarity with the Palestinian people and take this opportunity to do so again. Our thoughts, solidarity and prayers are with them at this time but they need more than that. The actions of Israel are, as ever, undermining efforts to secure a sustainable and peaceful two-state solution. Those actions must be urgently challenged by the international community. Without sanction or adequate diplomatic response, I fear we will see more innocent civilians killed in the coming days, weeks, months and years. It is long past time the international community, particularly the European Union, took action in response to Israeli aggression and oppression and acted to defend the rights of the people of Palestine.

The onus is also on the Government to respond robustly. The world must say stop and Ireland must lead the way. This House has adopted strong resolutions with cross-party support demanding an end to Israeli occupation and annexation of Palestinian lands. We now need to see action from the Government and from the Tánaiste as Minister for Foreign Affairs. We must take measures to end the EU’s preferential trading relationship with Israel. We should start by withdrawing Irish State investment from companies operating in the occupied territory, as outlined in Deputy Brady’s Bill currently before this House. We should also pass the occupied territories Bill because the Palestinian people need our solidarity but they need much more than that. History tells us Israel will not stop without a strong international response. Only a sustained campaign by the international community to call out Israel’s continual war crimes against the Palestinian people will make them stop.

The Government must now also move to recognise formally the state of Palestine. The Dáil passed a Sinn Féin motion to that effect in 2014; the Seanad did likewise. Yet the Government has continued to drag its heels. I urge it do so at this critical time, make a stand for peace and progress in the Middle East and formally recognise the state of Palestine. When will the Government do that? What other actions will the Tánaiste take on behalf of the Irish people that can be an example to the world and show the world aggression, annexation, apartheid and occupation will not be tolerated anywhere? What actions will he take in the face of the ongoing breaches of international law by Israel against the people of Palestine?

I beg the indulgence of the Ceann Comhairle and Deputy to say that last evening we heard the very sad news of the passing of a former Minister and Deputy, Brendan Daly from Cooraclare in County Clare. He was an extraordinarily committed public servant who served in multiple Departments as Minister for social welfare, defence, marine, fisheries and forestry. He worked in the Department of An Taoiseach and the Departments of labour, foreign affairs and finance. He was an active and valued member of our party and a committed County Clare man. He was a witty guy with a great sense of humour. He could pull the odd prank every now and again and he enjoyed that. His warmth, wit, intelligence and regular advice will be sorely missed. I extend our sympathies to his children, Niamh, Iomhar, Ronan, his grandchildren and all his extended family and friends in Clare. I thank the Ceann Comhairle and Members for their indulgence on that.

Hear, hear.

I thank the Deputy for raising the situation in Palestine, the unacceptable attacks on Jenin and the escalation by the Israeli Government, which I condemn, of violent incursions into the West Bank generally. The last two years have seen a significant escalation in such incursions and violence, which has led to a dramatic increase in the loss of life, particularly the loss of civilian life in the West Bank. We have articulated our strongest concern and condemn the incursion into Jenin. It is part of a very worrying escalation of violence in recent weeks and months. Israel has a legal as well as moral responsibility, as the occupying power, to protect all civilians in the occupied Palestinian territory. We have worked with like-minded states in Europe, as well as Jordan and others, to press for a de-escalation, in the first instance, of the violence not just in Jenin but across the West Bank and Gaza. We are increasingly concerned, also, by the increase in settler violence in the West Bank, which has resulted in civilian deaths, injuries and significant property damage. All perpetrators must be held accountable.

On the broader issues, Ireland is known in the European Union and United Nations as being one of the strongest countries that consistently raises the violation of international law and the UN charter in respect of Palestine. Ireland is recognised globally as supporting Palestinian rights and human rights in particular and, in that context, strongly supporting a two-state solution. It is always a balance as to the levers one uses to try to get the best outcome in this situation, realising our own limitations as well. Suffice to say there is our support for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, UNWRA, and in the United Nations of the recent resolution to hold Israel to account in the international court. When I met President Abbas and the Prime Minister from Palestine, these were measures they wanted us to pursue. We did so and we supported them.

My party, Fianna Fáil, has a long history of supporting Palestinians' right to a homeland. The late Brian Lenihan Snr. was, I think, the first European politician at a ministerial level to recognise Palestinians' right to a homeland. Frankly, there is a need to build stronger consensus across the European Union. While I said there were a number of "like-minded" countries which have strong views on this matter, we need to persuade more within the European Union towards the need for justice and to create a credible pathway to a two-state solution. The real worry and concern is that the two-state solution is becoming increasingly unviable. Israel's ultimate security, which it always puts forwards as the rationale for its behaviour, becomes untenable in the context of not having a two-state solution; in other words, it makes sense that you get on with your neighbours to create a peaceful environment. What is happening in this case is a shocking escalation of violence by a government that has moved, perceptibly and obviously, to the far right, in its composition and there are very dangerous ideas within that government.

I would like to be associated with the Tánaiste's remarks of sympathy for Brendan Daly and to convey the condolences of Sinn Féin to his family, loved ones and the Fianna Fáil Party. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.

A two-state solution is becoming increasingly unviable simply because of the actions of the state of Israel in its pursuit of the absolute humiliation of the Palestinian people, which appears to be its only goal at this time. I welcome the strong words from the Tánaiste and successive Ministers for Foreign Affairs from this State. I recognise that the Tánaiste is in a minority of ministers from EU countries in that regard. However, he should have the absolute confidence that he is in the majority of humanity, which is disgusted by the ongoing actions of Israel and the lack of an international response. Consensus would be fantastic and preferable at an EU level but for a consensus to be reached, at some point, somebody will have to show leadership. Ireland is best placed to be the state that shows that leadership by taking action and forcing the hand of others internationally to take a robust response regarding what is happening. The first thing we can do is simply recognise the state of Palestine, as agreed by both Houses of the Oireachtas. When will that be done?

The programme for Government states that the Government will honour its commitment to recognising a state of Palestine as part of a lasting settlement of the conflict, or, in advance of that, when we believe doing so will progress efforts to reach a two-state solution or to protect the integrity of the Palestinian territory. We could go solo and do it next week or next year, but what impact would that have? That is a serious question which we must ask. There is a strong argument that having a stronger, collective voice with a number of significant EU member states and others, if we join forces and collectively recognise the state of Palestine, would be far more impactful than one country going it alone. I accept that is a judgment call. As I said earlier, the levers one uses to put pressure on the Israeli Government require judgment. We have been pushing the need for an association agreement with the Palestinian authority at EU level. Several of us have put forward to Josep Borrell that a much stronger relationship between the European Union and the Palestinian National Authority is required.