Ceisteanna Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation Dail Éireann — 2024-05-15 ============================================================ Heather Humphreys (FG), Cavan-Monaghan The Tánaiste said this morning that Ireland will recognise the state of Palestine by the end of this month. That is a very important step. As the Deputy said, EU member states and the international community have made it clear that an Israeli military operation in Rafah will inevitably lead to disastrous humanitarian consequences and the deaths of large numbers of innocent civilians. We urge Israel to cease its operation in Rafah immediately and avoid further escalation. Israel must facilitate safe, unimpeded access of humanitarian aid to the civilian population of Gaza, including by way of the Rafah and Kerem Shalom crossings. We are working with our EU partners. The European Council adopted conclusions on the situation in Israel and Gaza at its meeting in March. The Council urged Israel not to undertake a ground operation in Rafah. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2024-05-15/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:52:57+00:00 Sitting date: 2024-05-15