Crowe Welcomes Dáil Gaza Gesture but International Response Needed

Dublin South West TD Seán Crowe has said that he welcomed the unprecedented minutes silence held in the Dáil for the people of Gaza and for all those who have died in the Middle East.

Crowe who is the party’s Spokeperson on Foreign Affairs called on the international community to act immediately in order to end the Israeli assault on the people of Gaza.

Deputy Seán Crowe said:

“I welcome the unprecedented minutes silence held in the Dáil for the people of Gaza and for all those who have died in the Middle East.

“As the Israeli assault on Gaza continues into its 11th day the humanitarian situation in Gaza is deteriorating minute by minute. More than 80% of those killed in Gaza have been civilians, including 54 children. Israel’s indiscriminate targeting and bombing is the primary cause of these tragedies. Their raison d’etre for their ground invasion and continued attacks is the international community’s silence and the added impunity given to Israel.

“The Israeli Government need to cease talking about ‘vengeance’ as Prime Minister Nethanyahu has done and ‘settling the score’ as Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon has quoted as saying.

“This inflammatory language is provocative and encourages ‘others’ to take the law into their own hands ad exact even greater revenge on Palestinians.

“Up to now there is absolutely no accountability for the atrocities which have happened in the past an are being reported on a daily basis.

“The international community and particularly the European Union needs to act immediately to stop the deliberate targeting of Gaza citizens and the vital infrastructure that has been funded by the EU.

“We need to urgently see the establishment of a UN fact-finding mission to investigate suspected war crimes committed by Israeli forces against Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip, and to take necessary steps to prosecute those responsible for them.

“The gesture in the Dáil was welcome but needs to be built on.

“But perhaps more importantly the International Community needs to stop standing by while Gaza and the Palestinian People are again being pounded back to the stone age by the weapons of the Israeli Government.”