Debate contribution: End Israeli Impunity in Gaza

Debate contribution by Mr Declan Kearney on 24 June 2025.

MLA

Mr Declan Kearney

Party at the time

Sinn Féin

Date

24 June 2025

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

End Israeli Impunity in Gaza

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5047306

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I beg to move

Since October 2023, at least 56,000 Palestinian people have been killed in Israel's genocidal war in Gaza. Almost 1,000 have been slaughtered in the West Bank. According to UNICEF, Gaza has become a graveyard for children. It is now the most dangerous place on this planet for children to live. Today in Gaza, there are 60,000 malnourished children. They are suffering from dehydration and multiple communicable diseases. The health system has been destroyed; water infrastructure is collapsing; and the population is now threatened with drought and famine. According to the United Nations, there are more than 2·1 million people trapped, bombed and starved. Food, medicine, fuel and shelter supplies are being blocked from entry to Gaza by the Israeli siege. Hunger is being used as a weapon of war. A World Health Organization (WHO) trauma surgeon stated:

"There's a constant correlation with the positions of the four announced food distribution sites and the mass casualty incidents".

In the past month, multiple massacres have taken place at those so-called food distribution centres. Up to and including today, dozens of starving and malnourished Palestinians have been and are being murdered by Israel while they seek food, medical supplies and shelter at those locations. They are not humanitarian aid centres; they are, in fact, engineered deathtraps, where vulnerable, dispossessed people are being systematically and indiscriminately murdered. That is not happening spontaneously or accidentally: Palestinian people are being corralled into particular locations on the promise of food and assistance as a way to hem them in and then kill them. The United Nations has already stated that the pillars of international law under which food and aid should be delivered have been undermined by Israel's actions. International humanitarian law demands that Israel not attack hospitals, schools, humanitarian aid workers or other civilian institutions. The Geneva conventions, particularly the fourth convention, are clear: the occupying force is bound by international humanitarian laws that require humane treatment of the population and the steady provision of basic needs, including food and medical care. Israel is now in systemic violation of the Geneva convention, the Rome statute and the UN Charter. That is why the International Criminal Court (ICC) has approved arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant. They stand accused of having used starvation as a weapon of war and of massacring civilians in the occupied territories. The ruling from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has found that Palestinians in Gaza are faced with genocide due to Israeli aggression. The democratic international consensus, as reflected in successive UN resolutions, legal opinions and universal norms and practices, is that Israel's actions are unequivocal violations of international humanitarian law, and still —.

No, I will not. Still, Israel stands in defiance of the multilateral system by inflicting untold suffering on the civilian population in Palestine. Why is that? It is because it knows that it can do so with impunity, due to the shameful failure of Western powers to stand up for humanity. The evidence of Israeli state terrorism grows with every passing week. The recent report from the EU's High Representative for Human Rights now assesses non-compliance by Israel with its human rights obligations under the EU-Israel association agreement. I have previously said that the human rights clause in that agreement has been fundamentally violated. Action must be taken by the EU immediately, not subject to further review in July, as was reported yesterday. The EU-Israel association agreement must be terminated without further delay. The International Criminal Court, the International Court of Justice, the United Nations, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and democratic opinion across the world have spoken: Israel is guilty of multiple human rights violations and multiple war crimes. International boycott, divestment and sanctions must be applied to Israel immediately. Total arms embargoes must be enforced. Just as we have run out of vocabulary to describe the genocide and the barbaric occupation of Palestine, words of censure and condemnation have been exhausted. The EU and other Western powers must take comprehensive, robust measures to bring the genocide to an end and to hold Israel accountable for its multiple violations of humanitarian standards and its ongoing war crimes. The sanctions that were applied against Russia should be enforced against Israel. The motion calls on the British Government to end all their arms sales to Israel and:

"to recognise the state of Palestine".

It further calls on the Irish Government to enact the Occupied Territories Bill and to bring an end to facilitating sales of Israeli war bonds.

Those accused of war crimes must be brought before the International Criminal Court at The Hague. Our multilateral order and the framework of international humanitarian law were established in direct response to the crimes that global imperialist powers committed in the past. Today, the largest Western powers are shredding that international law. The Israeli Government are out of control. They have crossed every red line. They are attempting to annihilate Palestinian civilisation and society. They are not serious about peace. Their actions are far beyond the pale. No international state can be allowed to commit genocide against women and children and commence unprovoked wars against other sovereign states without being subject to international accountability and sanction. The Israelis and those who support their actions are destroying every humanitarian and diplomatic norm and the basis of peaceful global coexistence. Urgent universal action is needed to bring Israel to heel. The holocaust of the Palestinian people and the colonisation of their lands must be stopped. There are no grey areas. There can be no ambiguity. We now either stand on the side of humanity and the rule of international law or acquiesce in the face of sadism and evil. That is the choice before the Assembly. I hope that political and moral leadership will be shown by everyone in the House by passing the motion.

979 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not qualifying

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 12:55 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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