Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Harris has insisted Government is doing all it can to help ordinary people in Palestine - describing what is happening as "the genocidal activity of the Netanyahu government" and that there is "an act of evil going on".
Mr Harris was speaking during a heated Dáil exchange in which Independent TD Catherine Connolly said in her view Israel has become "a rogue state" and that the coalition is "standing over a narrative that is utterly false".
Speaking during a Dáil Leaders Questions debate, Ms Connolly said 54,000 Palestinians have been killed since the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, including 15,630 children.
Ms Connolly said during this same period 630,000 people have been displaced, and that "at least 28 aid workers have been killed since 1 May, an average of one worker per day".
Watch: Tánaiste clashes with Connolly in Dáil over Gaza
While saying there have been calls for an immediate ceasefire, the Independent TD said that Israel has said it "intends to establish 22 new settlements".
She asked, "how have we allowed this to happen?", before saying:
"We've let it happens because we've bought into a narrative that has been pushed more than 100 years, 140 at this time, that Jewish people without a land and Palestine was a country without a people.
"And arising from that then the narrative took hold that they were entitled to that land notwithstanding the Nakba in 1948, a new Nakba happening under our very eyes and noses, with the narrative that Israel is the only democracy, the bulwark against Islamic religions and Muslims, and we have all bought into that to a certain extent.
"The Hamas attack happened on 7 October, which we are on record as condemning, I also said history did not start on that day.
"It is time for us to reflect, to stop the cognitive dissonance and ask why an independent republic is standing over a narrative that is utterly false."
In response, Mr Harris said the Government is "not standing over" anything, before adding that what is taking place is the "genocidal activity of the Netanyahu government" in Israel.
The Tánaiste said he wanted to make it clear he "differentiates between the government of Israel and the people of Israel", but said what is happening is "despicable" and that there is "an act of evil going on here, this is evil".
Read more: President says criticism of Netanyahu policies not anti-Semitism
Mr Harris said the measures the Government is taking include progress on the Occupied Territories Bill, saying Ireland "is the first country in Europe" to take this step and that other countries may be looking at us to ask, "why can't we do it in other countries as well".
He continued that "I don't buy into the narrative that Opposition is good and Government is bad", repeating that "we're all appalled by the genocide we're witnessing".
However, Ms Connolly responded, saying Government can be "appalled and sickened" but is still "refusing to recognise the elephant in the room".
She said that in her view there is an "umbilical cord" between Israel and the US, which she described as the "biggest supplier" of weapons to Israel.
She said the US is followed by the EU, which she said is "morally corrupt and inept" on the issue, saying "let's call a spade a spade".
Ms Connolly said this is happening while Shannon Airport is being used by the US air force, and while in her view "the Occupied Territories Bill is going nowhere".
She added: "It's time we led. Call out the narrative for what it is. Israel is a rogue state; it is not a democratic state. Stand up, stand up and account for what you're going to do."
Mr Harris again responded, saying Deputy Connolly has "such vitriol and dislike for Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil" that in his view progress is not being acknowledged.
He criticised Ms Connolly's remarks, saying "while you're standing here throwing brickbats at me", Government is being praised by other countries for the steps it is taking.
Mr Harris added that he is "disgusted and sickened" by what is happening in Gaza and that "we were the first country to say what Israel is doing is genocide".
EU nations need to "move" on actions against Israel
Tánaiste Simon Harris called on bigger EU nations to "move" on actions against Israel and recognising the Palestinian state.
Asked by Labour TD Ged Nash - who said "Ireland has led the way internationally, no two ways about it" - what Government intends to do next, Mr Harris said: "I've got to be really honest, we need some of the big countries to move here."
Mr Harris said Ireland will push for the bigger nations to "take the step of recognising the state of Palestine" during a United Nations working group meeting next month, which will be co-chaired by Ireland.
In response, Deputy Nash said he hopes the Government acts on an unopposed Dáil Labour motion during that meeting seeking to create a UN peacekeeping force in Gaza and to criticise the position taken by the UN security council to date, as well as progress on the Occupied Territories Bill.
The Labour TD said there has been a recent change in language on the situation from the UK and Germany, which he said he hopes will lead to further action.
During the same debate, Sinn Féin TD Ruairí Ó Murchú said that given what he said is a "genocide" taking place in Gaza, "it cannot be business as usual with Israel".
While acknowledging that "there has been movement" from the Government, he said "we need to see far more movement" and referenced Sinn Féin's unsuccessful bill this week on Israeli bonds.
In response, the Tánaiste said "if Israel is found to be in breach" of humanitarian sections of the EU-Israel trade agreement, among other measures, then that will "need to be followed up with concrete actions".
Asked specifically about the Occupied Territories Bill and when it may be put to a Dáil vote and potentially passed, Mr Harris said: "I can tell you it will go in June [to the Oireachtas foreign affairs committee], as early as possible."
