Occupied Territories Bill will be brought to Cabinet next week, Tánaiste confirms 

Palestinians gather to receive a hot meal at a food distribution point in the Nuseirat camp for refugees in the central Gaza Strip. The taoiseach said four Irish aid trucks arrived in Jordan as the Israeli blockade began, but have not been able to access Gaza. Picture: Eyad Baba/AFP/Getty

A Government-revised draft of the Occupied Territories Bill is to be brought to Cabinet next Tuesday, Tánaiste Simon Harris has confirmed.

Speaking in the Dáil, Mr Harris said the legislation is being “well progressed” within the department of foreign Affairs.

It comes as Mr Harris backed Taoiseach Micheál Martin’s call for the immediate suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, during a debate on the ongoing war in Gaza.

“We will do everything we possibly can to let the Palestinian people know that they are seen, that they are heard and they are not forgotten,” Mr Harris said.

The Taoiseach described the ongoing bombardment of Gaza as “an affront to human decency”.

It is without mercy, or compassion or a shared sense of humanity. It has to stop.

“After 19 long and brutal months of war on the people of Gaza, I believe we are at a turning point.”

Mr Martin pointed out that some of Israel’s allies are calling for the country to change course.

“I urge Israel to listen, not just in the interests of the people of Gaza, but in its own interests. This is not who the people of Israel are,” Mr Martin said.

During the same debate, Mr Harris raised the “enforced starvation” of Gazans while Israel prevents the distribution of aid.

He said four Irish aid trucks arrived in Jordan as the Israeli blockade began, but have not been able to access Gaza.

“Carrying the potential to assist thousands of people, these trucks remain in a warehouse in Jordan while people starve,” Mr Harris said.

He said the ongoing war on Gaza “goes against our humanity”.

“More than 18 months of fighting have caused a total destruction that can be difficult to comprehend, further compounded by the almost 80 days of an Israeli blockade of vital, life-saving, humanitarian aid,” he said.

Meanwhile, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said the Israeli blockade of Gaza is collective punishment of Palestinians.

“The siege is continuing. Not an ounce of food, not a drop of water has been distributed,” Ms McDonald said.

Their [Israel’s] actions are not simply wrong. They are criminal. They are genocidal and Israel continues to act with impunity because very simply they can.

Earlier in the day, Labour leader Ivana Bacik called for the Government to table an emergency UN General Assembly resolution to note the failure by the UN Security Council to deliver peace in Gaza.

Ms Bacik said her party would bring a motion to the Dáil next week to mandate the Government to bring the resolution to the general assembly.

Duncan Smith, Labour’s foreign affairs spokesman Duncan Smith said that in the three-and-a-half hours scheduled for the debate, 50 bombs would be dropped by Israel on Gaza.

“It is butchery, pure and simple, with the world watching on and with many so-called developed states having blood on their hands and allowing the slaughter to happen,” Mr Smith said.

He described comments by Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, who called for the total destruction of Gaza, as genocidal.

“There are no other words to describe it. The Israelis are clear in their intent and they are following through,” he said.

Social Democrats TD, Rory Hearne, said the horror underway in Gaza is now “beyond words”.

“Our collective humanity, even the notion of a common humanity, is being bombed into the rubble by Israel and the complicity of countries around the world,” Mr Hearne said.

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