Taoiseach, more than 5,500 children have now been killed in Israel's brutal bombardment of Gaza. More than 13,500 Gazans have been slaughtered and nearly 6,000 are missing. Entire Palestinian families have been wiped out, entire neighbourhoods and communities wiped from the face of the earth and generations erased. Forty-five days of horror have rained down on the Palestinian people in a merciless crescendo of 75 years of oppression, occupation and apartheid.

Israel's relentless onslaught means nowhere in Gaza is safe. Homes, hospitals and schools have been obliterated, places of worship destroyed and refugee camps bombed. Not even babies are safe. Newborn babies have died because incubators stopped working. On Sunday, 31 premature babies were evacuated from the decimated Al-Shifa hospital to Egypt. That these vulnerable babies could be considered the lucky ones speaks to the utter depravity of this onslaught. As millions are displaced, the refugee people of Gaza face starvation and the outbreak of disease. Having already been forced south, they are now being ordered to move again. Where do they go, Taoiseach? This systematic dehumanisation and annihilation of the Palestinian people is happening before the eyes of the world, live on TV and social media.

The Irish Government must hold Israel to account. The South African Government and others have referred Israel to the International Criminal Court. Ireland must do the same.

Hear, hear.

The Spanish Government and the Norwegian Parliament are moving to formally recognise the Palestinian state. Ireland must do the same. The Belgian Government has called for sanctions against Israel. Ireland must do the same. Israel must be held to account and we need a ceasefire now. We need a deal to secure the release of all hostages now. We hope that Irish girl Emily Hand will be finally returned safely to her family. Aid must be let into Gaza immediately. People there need food, water, medicines and fuel urgently. The onslaught and siege must end. This is what the people of Gaza need to save their children and stop the destruction of an entire people. The Palestinian nation faces another Nakba, catastrophe. The people of Gaza face annihilation and the Dáil must stand together, saying "No, never."

On European streets, Arab streets and streets throughout the world, ordinary people in their tens of thousands march, protest and call for a full and immediate ceasefire.

This is the imperative. Le 45 lá tá léigear agus sléacht buailte ag muintir Ghaza. An t-aon rud amháin a chuirfidh athrú iomlán ar an gcás uafásach seo ná sos cogaidh láithreach. Caithfear deireadh a chur leis an marú láithreach.

The Taoiseach has said that Israeli actions cannot be without consequence. What are those consequences? The one thing that can transform this awful situation is an immediate, full and unequivocal ceasefire; not a temporary pause but a complete end to hostilities. That is what is needed to save the lives of all - hostages, civilians, children and entire communities. This is what the world is calling for now. I invite the Taoiseach to make that clear call from the Dáil today.

I thank the Deputy for raising this very important issue once again in the Dáil. The Government's position, and the position of Ireland, is clear. We are calling for a ceasefire that will allow humanitarian aid to get into Gaza, including food, fuel, medicine or whatever is needed. We are calling for the hostages to be released and we believe a ceasefire can facilitate that. We are calling for the killing to stop, and that is why a ceasefire must be adhered to by all sides, not just by Israel but also by Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the other armed groups involved in this conflict. A ceasefire can create the space, perhaps, to begin contacts about the day after and about how Gaza is going to be returned to Palestinian control, and how it is going to be managed in the weeks, months and years ahead. That is why we are calling for a ceasefire, and that it is the position of the Government. That is very much our position.

We understand that there are some discussions under way between intermediaries involving the release of hostages. I had a chance to speak with the Prime Minister and foreign minister of Qatar only yesterday. I will meet today with the ambassadors of some Arab and Muslim countries. As the Deputy knows, the Tánaiste has been very involved in contacts as well. We are particularly pursuing the case of Emily Hand, a young Irish-Israeli girl who we believe is being held hostage in Gaza by Hamas. We are doing everything we can to make sure that, if there is the release of some hostages by Hamas in the coming days, children are first among those to be released. We are very strongly of the view that hostages should never be taken by anyone in any conflict anywhere, ever. However, the taking of children as hostages is particularly wrong. We are pushing and using all our contacts and abilities to ensure that if there is a hostage release in the coming days, Emily Hand is among one of those to be released. That is a major priority for us now as a Government. We should not forget that only one Irish citizen has been killed so far in this conflict, Kim Damti, who was killed by Hamas in Israel while attending a music festival, and there is an Irish citizen being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza. We are doing everything we can to facilitate her release.

On the International Criminal Court, ICC, we have had contact with the court. There is an investigation under way and there has been for several years. It does not require another referral; that is just symbolic. What the court actually wants is something of real value, such as the resources and tools it needs to carry out the investigation. That is why we have provided an extra €3 million to the court to give it the resources and the tools to carry out the investigation. Where the Deputy differs from the Government, I think, is that her call is to refer Israel to the ICC. That is not how it is done. The court looks at the situation on the ground, and it is not just about actions that Israel has committed that may well be war crimes. It is also about things that Hamas may have done or that other armed groups have done. That is where I think we differ but perhaps the Deputy wants to clarify that.

No, and I am sure the Taoiseach is aware of the clarification. The referral to the International Criminal Court would be actions that occurred on the occupied Palestinian territories because, of course, Palestine, unlike Israel, supports and is a signatory to the ICC.

I very much welcome the fact that there are live discussions, and the real prospect of a hostage release. Of course, all of us long for young Emily Hand to be back with her family. She celebrated her ninth birthday only last Friday.

I put it to the Taoiseach that the ceasefire creates the space for hostages to be returned and space for dialogue to very quickly move to re-establishing a peace process. That is where all of this will end. Part of the mix has to be accountability for Israel. I do not differ with the Taoiseach on anything he said in respect of a total ceasefire on all sides - absolutely; and to criticise the 7 October attack by Hamas - absolutely. We have walked that ground many, many times. What the Taoiseach has failed to do, is resisting doing and is necessary to do is to hold Israel to account. I asked him that question and he said Israeli actions cannot be without consequence. What are the consequences?

Hear, hear.

The consequences are an investigation that is being carried out by the International Criminal Court, a body we support and to which we have provided additional funding as a meaningful action, precisely so that it can carry out the investigation it wants to carry out into activities in the occupied territories, by Israel, of course, but also by other militant groups, like Hamas, that may have committed war crimes. That is the work the court is doing and we should support it in that work. It is why we have provided additional funding for the ICC to do exactly that.

In terms of further actions and further sanctions, I am strongly of the view that they can only happen on a multilateral basis. The whole point of imposing sanctions, and we have imposed sanctions on many countries for different reasons, is that they do more harm to the country being sanctioned than the country imposing the sanctions. That is why they only work when they are done on a multilateral basis, and we are nowhere near that point yet at European level or international level. I have said at European meetings, and I will say it again, that we cannot continue to aid Palestine and trade with Israel in the way we have done in the past. That is going to have to change in some way.