Senator Frances Black has welcomed the Government's intended progress on the Occupied Territories Bill, and said she hopes that the Minister for Foreign Affairs will "stick to her guns".
Senator Black, who first introduced the legislation, was speaking after Minister Helen McEntee told the Dáil that there will be progress on the bill in the next two weeks.
The bill aims to ban trade with illegal Israeli settlements.
Speaking on RTÉ's Six One, the senator said that having dealt with multiple ministers' for foreign affairs over the years, she hopes that Minister McEntee will do this as soon as possible.
Ms Black said the legislation was the first step towards real consequences for what Israel is doing, breaking international law on a daily basis.
"At the moment it is really urgent what's happening in the West Bank and in Gaza," Senator Black said.
"I would have liked if Ireland had led out on this in 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2024 again but here we are, now 2026, and I would love to see this passed urgently."
Watch: RTÉ Six One News interview with Senator Frances Black
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Ms McEntee gave the update on the legislation during minister's questions in the Dáil where the plight of detainees of the Global Sumud Flotilla was raised by Opposition TDs.
There was widespread reaction globally to video footage posted by Israel's security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, which showed activists - including Irish citizens - being taunted by Israeli soldiers and Mr Ben-Gvir.
Sinn Féin TD Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire said that Israel was being allowed to act with impunity with regard to the campaigners who were detained.
Labour's Marie Sherlock said it was time to level with the Irish public and urged the minister to set out a timeline for passage of the bill.
"There isn't a single person that saw the footage yesterday that couldn’t be appalled," Ms McEntee said.
She said the matter had been back and forth with the Attorney General in recent months over legal issues.
The minister said there would be progress in the coming weeks prohibiting the importation of goods from the Occupied Territories.
The best way to bring forth legislation was in tandem with other European colleagues, she said, such as the Netherlands, Belgium and Slovenia.
Ms McEntee said she was working on bringing the matter back to the European Commission and she hoped there would be a further vote banning the trade element of the EU-Israel trade agreement, which she said "would be worth billions to the Israeli economy".
Later, the minister - who also took Leaders' Questions - made a "very clear commitment" to bring forward legislation and enact the Occupied Territories Bill as soon as possible.
Ms McEntee was responding to Labour TD Ged Nash who said it was "high time" that Taoiseach Micheál Martin turned his anger into action.
He called for the suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement and the immediate enactment of the Occupied Territories Bill.
Ms McEntee will attend the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels tomorrow, where EU trade ministers will discuss economic security.
During the discussions, the minister is expected to reiterate Ireland's longstanding call for action at EU level in relation to trade with illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
This is understood to be the first time the issue will be raised formally at this level.
Ms McEntee will underline the need for the EU to respond to consistent breaches of international law and to consider appropriate trade measures as part of that response.
Separately, the Foreign Affairs Committee last week agreed to place sanctions on violent settlers in the West Bank and organisations that enable them, as well as on Hamas.
Fianna Fáil MEP Barry Andrews said that it was "extremely urgent" the Government proceeds to pass the Occupied Territories Bill.
Speaking on RTÉ's Drivetime, he said the treatment of the Global Sumud Flotilla activists was appalling, but it is of a much lower grade than the systematic treatment of Palestinians in Israeli detention, which he said was "shocking".
"What we saw in the video yesterday was merely the tip of the iceberg," he said.
He said that the only leverage the EU has on Israel is trade.
