How much longer is the international community going to sit back and watch an impending genocide in Gaza? How many innocent civilians have to die? How many children have to be butchered? How many hospitals have to be destroyed, residential buildings flattened, schools decimated and farms devastated? How much slaughter and indiscriminate destruction can western leaders stomach? More than 15,000 people have now been massacred in Gaza, including at least 6,000 children. Will 5,000 more Palestinian lives satisfy Israel's desire to seek revenge? Will it be 10,000, 20,000, or is there any number of Palestinian lives lost that is deemed unacceptable?

Nearly two months ago, Israel gave more than 1 million people just 24 hours to leave northern Gaza and then it destroyed everything in the north including hospitals, schools, apartment buildings and even refuge camps. Now, after a brief seven-day ceasefire, it has resumed its slaughter, except this time, its focus is in the south where more than 1 million displaced people were told to seek shelter. The depths of the depravity being unleased in Gaza is unprecedented in its scale and its brutality. Having told millions of civilians to flee to the south, Israel has now divided Gaza into a grid system of 600 blocks. Every day, it drops flyers in Gaza telling civilians which grids are about to be blown off the face of the earth, however the information can only be accessed through a QR code or social media posts. Gaza has been reduced to rubble. Its communication systems are in tatters. How many people have smart phones or Internet connections to check if they are about to be blown to bits?

This level of calculated and premeditated barbarism is disgusting. The fact that many western leaders are watching this, and are still refusing to directly criticise Israel, is despicable. What will it take for the international community to act? Is Israel free to unleash whatever hell it likes on more than 2 million people? Already civilians in Gaza have been murdered, mutilated, displaced, starved, and brutalised. They have all been denied all of the protections they are supposed to have under international humanitarian law. The Irish Government's words of condemnation have been stronger than most EU countries, but words are not enough. It is long past time for sanctions to be imposed on Israel. It is now three weeks since the Taoiseach told me he would get legal advice on whether Israel is in breach of the human rights clause in the EU-Israel trade agreement.

Thank you, Deputy.

Has the Taoiseach done that? The next EU Council meeting is next Thursday. Will he be recommending sanctions on Israel at that meeting?

I thank the Deputy. I share her horror about what is continuing to unfold in Gaza. I do not think anyone could find the current situation to be anything more than unbearable, quite frankly, to see thousands of people being killed and thousands of children losing their lives. While Israel has the right to defend itself, the actions it has taken, in my view and that of the Government, are disproportionate and will ultimately be counterproductive. We know from history that when people are treated in that way, it strengthens their resolve. As the Americans have said in recent days, Israel might achieve a military victory but it is very likely to be a strategic defeat of its own long-term security.

I was glad to hear the American authorities use that language and put across that message.

As regards the questions the Deputy asked about Israel's actions in Gaza and the international community, I do not speak for Israel and I do not speak for the international community. I can speak only for the Irish Government, and our position is very clear: that there should be a new ceasefire, that that ceasefire should be an extended one if not a permanent one and that it should be observed by all sides, not just by Israel but also by Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Palestinian militant groups that have committed and are committing terrible actions also.

We do not have the legal advice back yet. I have asked for it but I do not have it back yet. I hope to have it back soon.

As regards sanctions, I can only say what I have said before. Sanctions are effective only when they are done on a multilateral basis. I do not believe it would be the right thing for Ireland to engage in imposing unilateral sanctions. There would be a response. There would almost certainly be retaliation, not just from Israel but perhaps from others. That would create problems for us and disadvantages for our citizens and would not be effective in changing the mind of the Israeli Government. I think the Deputy knows that as well as I do. Sanctions can be effective only if they are done on a multilateral basis. We are one of the countries that is listened to on an international basis. I attended the COP in Dubai in recent days. I had a chance to speak to many representatives of countries from the Arab world and the global south. They recognise the position Ireland is taking as one of leadership within the European Union and recognise that we are not applying double standards in the way some countries are. If, however, we go out on a limb and take unilateral actions, we will be listened to less. It might make us feel better but it will not do any good for the Palestinian people.

The Taoiseach said he would get legal advice on the EU-Israel trade agreement three weeks ago. Where is the urgency when a child is dying every ten minutes in Gaza? People there cannot wait any longer. Whole families, generations of people, have been wiped off the face of the earth. People do not have enough food or water, they have nowhere to flee the bombs, most of the hospitals are not functional anymore, and we are watching this happen without doing anything meaningful to try to stop it. Absolutely zero pressure is being applied to Israel. Netanyahu has been clear that the killing will continue until they say Hamas has been destroyed, but how will they measure that? We know their intelligence is not reliable and we know they engage in lies and misinformation to cover up their human rights abuses.

Israel has to face consequences. Ireland must advocate for that at an EU level. I recognise that going out on a limb and introducing EU sanctions is not something the Taoiseach can do. I am asking him to push for that at an EU level, at the next meeting, on Thursday, to try to get that unilateral response like we did with the war in Ukraine, to encourage the rest of the community in Europe to take those strong actions. I understand the Taoiseach's position and I agree with it, but the position of having only words of condemnation is what I cannot understand. We can do more to try to save lives and the Government is not doing it. We need actions to match those words. Where is the urgency?

We are doing a lot as a country on an international stage, and both the Tánaiste and I have been very active on this issue. When I met people from all over the world in Dubai in recent days, from the Arab world and from the global south in particular, they were very appreciative of and thankful for the Irish position, a position we have been taking, which is not one of double standards. That is something we will continue. We have done a lot of work to help our citizens to get out of Gaza, we have done a lot of work to make sure that humanitarian aid could get into Gaza, and we will continue that work.

I do take exception to the idea that there is something the Irish Government is not doing that would stop the killing in Gaza. I do not think that is a fair comment, if that is what the Deputy meant. It is almost trying to blame the Irish Government and the Irish people for the actions of Israel and-----

No it is not.

If that is not what Deputy Cairns was trying to imply-----

It was not. Do not suggest that.

-----then I thank Deputy Shortall for that clarification.