Negotiations to end the war in Gaza “are now at a crucial stage” according to Tánaiste Simon Harris who commended the efforts by mediators including “the US, Egypt, Qatar and others”.
Speaking during a Dáil debate on Gaza, Mr Harris said agreement was “urgently needed”. He hoped “the proposed peace plan is a step towards a lasting peace that is so desperately needed”.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs also hoped “Hamas now seizes the opportunity to lay down its arms and release all the hostages”.
“No peace process is perfect,” he said, but he knew the amount of work put in by Arab leaders “into engaging with president Trump to try to bring forward a plan on which the world can speak with one voice and say, ‘Stop. End this. Here is a way forward’.”
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Under the latest US peace proposal, Hamas would have to disarm in return for an end to fighting, humanitarian aid for Palestinians and a promise of reconstruction.
Mr Harris also highlighted the “ever-worsening situation in the West Bank” with “unprecedented” settler violence.
“One thousand attacks have been documented in 230 communities across the West Bank since the beginning of this year,” he said.
[ Hamas weighs Trump peace plan as other Palestinian factions reject itOpens in new window ]
Sinn Féin foreign affairs spokesman Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire said any peace deal to end the wholesale slaughter of tens of thousands of people in Gaza should be welcomed. However, he said the details of the deal were “vague” and “unfortunately past experience suggests considerable caution is warranted. There’s been numerous examples of bad faith on the part of the Israeli government”.
His party colleague Seán Crowe said for any peace deal to work “it must be constructed and agreed by all parties to the conflict”.
He said the Belfast Agreement worked because it was a constructive process that all parties engaged in and signed up to. “It was not forced upon a battered population, with the promise of only more debt and destruction, should they refuse.”
Labour spokesman Duncan Smith said Hamas was a terrorist organisation and should have no role in a free Palestine. “But Israel’s assault has not been entirely about destroying Hamas, it is about destroying Gaza and the Palestinian people.”
Social Democrats spokeswoman Sinéad Gibney claimed the Government was denying family reunification. She highlighted the case of Bushra, a mother-of-four, who was evacuated to Ireland with her son Mohammed. He lost a leg and severely injured his other leg in a bomb that killed his father. Her three other children remain in Palestine with their grandmother. “This Government promised family reunification, but it hasn’t happened,” she said.
Her party colleague Rory Hearne became upset as he spoke of genocide.
“How have we let these children be bombed in shelters, in schools, in tents?” he asked. “How have we let their beautiful laughs be silenced forever? How do we let this genocide continue,” he said, becoming emotional. “Our governments use strong words to condemn Israel but the words are empty without real action.”
[ What’s in Trump’s 20-point peace plan for Gaza, and will Hamas accept it?Opens in new window ]
Fine Gael TD Colm Burke pointed to the “most extreme positions” of senior Israeli politicians. He highlighted comments from deputy speaker of the Israeli parliament Nissim Vaturi, who said on Monday: “‘We want to remove all Arabs from Gaza and the West Bank’. He previously referred to Palestinians as scum and sub-human. Earlier this year he called for the killing of all Palestinian males. That has echoes of fascist ideology,” Mr Burke said.
Former ceann comhairle Seán Ó Fearghaíl said, “I am horrified to think there is aid sitting on the border waiting to be delivered to starving people and it was beyond the ability of the UN, or Nato or Europe” to go in and “do something to provide hope to starving people”.
