Debate contribution: Gaza Ceasefire Agreement
Debate contribution by Mr Matthew O'Toole on .
- MLA
- Mr Matthew O'Toole
- Party at the time
- Social Democratic and Labour Party
- Date
- 13 October 2025
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Matters of the Day
- Heading
- Gaza Ceasefire Agreement
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5175380
Read the official Assembly record
Text
First, I pause and reflect on a moment of hope amid a world that is frightening, divided and full of destruction. The release of the hostages who are living, and, hopefully, the speedy release of remains, is something that any human being with an ounce of morality has to welcome. The actions of Hamas on 7 October were not just wrong but appalling and against the interests of the Palestinian people. I have no difficulty with saying that. It has to be said. However, some of the Members opposite who have made related points cannot bring themselves to acknowledge the more than 60,000 Palestinians, many of whom were children, who have been killed in the past two years. Frankly, I find it unconscionable that Members can fail to acknowledge those lost lives. We, as individual representatives, need to take a long, hard look at ourselves if we cannot acknowledge that scale of human loss.
The peace plan is welcome, but I will not say, "Thank you" to Donald Trump, as some Members opposite want us to. I think that President Trump is a force for destruction in the world. On this occasion, I welcome the fact that there has been specific progress in relation to peace, so I will not be churlish about that, but there is a long, long way to go. I hope that there is a glimmer of progress for peace and stability in that region and the pathway to a viable and just Palestinian state. Lots has been said about the security of Israel. It is important to say, although it has not been acknowledged, that many hundreds of thousands of Israelis have been wholly opposed to the regime of Benjamin Netanyahu. They have dissociated themselves from the genocide that has happened by their state — they have called it a genocide, by the way — but, for them to live in security, alongside that, there has to be a durable Palestinian state, living in peace and justice in Gaza and the West Bank. Gaza has been reduced to rubble. There will have to be accountability for the war crimes that were perpetrated against innocent Gazans. The West Bank is being systematically hollowed out by settler aggression and terrorism. Those issues will have to be dealt with going forward. Mr Givan was wrong, by the way, when he said that Hamas is in charge of the Palestinian state. That is incorrect. The Palestinian state is run from the West Bank and is led by Fatah, which is an entirely different political movement, but I am afraid that it just speaks to some of the misinformed polemic that we hear from across the Chamber when it comes to those issues. I hope today that there is a moment of peace for all those tens of thousands of Gazans who have lost their lives. I am glad to see the hostages returned. They should never have been taken in the first place. Like others, I hope and pray for progress.
502 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Jev’s structured answers met the documented threshold for “not flagged”.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.15 (flagging needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not flagged).
- None of the five culture-war criteria was met (each was below 0.60).
- No identity-based framing was identified (0.56).
- Subject area: Another identity-related subject.
- The overall probability was at or below the not-flagging threshold.
This is an AI-generated assessment of the text, made against published criteria. It is not a finding of fact about the MLA or their intentions. The Assembly record itself is the fact.
Jev’s structured answers
| Question | Probability | Met? |
|---|---|---|
| Identity framing | 0.34 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.09 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.02 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.14 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.16 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.25 | No |
| Overall judgement | 0.15 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 0.56 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.01 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.37 |
| Adopts it | 0.06 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Another identity-related subject | 0.34 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.26 |
| Religion and belief (including people of no religion), churches, faith communities and religious prejudice (including antisemitism and anti-Muslim prejudice) | 0.14 |
| Sectarianism, hate crime and community relations | 0.12 |
| Immigration, asylum, race, ethnicity and Travellers | 0.11 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 13:27 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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