Brian Stanley demands ICC action over Gaza aid killings

Minister Tánishta, the question of masculinity is in relation to the International Criminal Court and has Ireland sought to include the addition of the slaughter of starving Palestinians queuing for aid in terms of the case that you have joined with South Africa at the International Criminal Court? The International Criminal Court is under attack. We are seeing this on a very regular basis in many parts of the globe. Last week I met the President of the ICC here in Dublin and we discussed ways in which Ireland can continue to defend the court from sanctions and indeed the President thanked Ireland for its support today. I was quite shocked when you actually discuss it with the President of the ICC the impact of sanctions, threats, a threatening environment is having on their work and I intend to raise this with European counterparts. Europe really needs to give consideration as to how we can much better support the ICC. Thanks for the question, Deputy. I strongly condemn the continued Israeli action in Gaza. International humanitarian law makes it very clear that civilians must not be targeted in an armed conflict and that the provision of humanitarian relief must be facilitated, must be protected. I call for a full and independent investigation into the horrific events that have been outlined in these reports. The International Criminal Court has the jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute any international crimes committed on Palestinian territories, including by Israeli citizens. I checked in advance of taking this question that no further referral is needed for the ICC to be seized of the matter. It already has that jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute. The ICC prosecutor has confirmed that he is conducting an investigation into the escalation of violence in Palestine, including the events of 7 October 2. To date, the ICC has issued three arrest warrants in relation to the situation in Palestine. Two of these arrest warrants are for the Israeli Prime Minister and the then Defence Minister. The third arrest warrant was for the Hamas commander, who has since been confirmed dead. Ireland supports the investigation of the ICC into all the situations before the court, including Palestine. It is vital that we allow the court to carry out its important work in an independent and impartial manner. During my meeting with the President of the ICC last week, we discussed ways in which Ireland can continue to defend the court from U.S. sanctions, and she thanked Ireland for its support. We will continue to work with like-minded states to support and protect the court. The International Criminal Court has already included this, and what I would ask is that yourself and your department and your diplomatic staff, that you do everything possible to try and ensure that that case is pressed. I think the horror show in Gaza continues, you know, the bombing of tents, with innocent civilians in hospitals, schools, but the turning the Gaza Humanitarian Aid Foundation centres, the four centres that have been turned into shooting galleries where people are herded in and are being shot for fun, you know, firing tank shells into crowds of starving people. If this isn't a war crime, God Almighty in Heaven, what is a war crime? You know, along with water being turned off and everything. And all of this has been done in the name of improving Israeli security. Now anybody, if anybody thinks that breathing that resentment that's going to flow from this in the years to come is going to increase Israeli security, talk about delusion, you know. So look, I'll ask you to keep pushing that. Thank you. We certainly will. The Deputy is correct. I mean, the scenes that we're seeing, people queuing for aid, aid for themselves, aid for their children in a situation of near starvation and being shot at, being killed. I mean, this is beyond terrific. So Ireland will continue to support the ICC. I do need to stress on the record of the House how volatile and I think dangerous the situation is in terms of the sustainability of the ICC. We have to support the ICC. We have to support international courts. And Europe has always had and still has unanimity around that support or almost unanimity around that support for the work of the ICC. And we need to consider, because what's happening, I believe, is financial sanctions are being used to try and get to a point where it undermines the ability of the ICC to operate. And that would be despicable and needs to be condemned. From our point of view, in terms of the work of the ICC investigating in Palestine, voluntary contributions, we have made additional contributions. In 2024, we made a further contribution of a million euro to the ICC Prosecutors Trust Fund for Advanced Technology in specialised capacity, €101 million for the Trust Fund for Victims, €500,000 for the special Fund for Security and €250,000 for the Special Fund for Witness Relocation. Thank you. Deputy? Deputy Deputy Deputy Secretary O' I welcome the support for the International Criminal Court. I think that it is important that the international order is under attack. Without a doubt, your reply would actually cause me more concern in terms of the feedback that you got last week. I think that it is important that Ireland and other countries continue to support the International Criminal Court, and not allow the United Nations to be undermined, but indeed the whole United Nations to be reformed and improved. You have stood out. I think we need to continue doing that. I would ask you to go further, of course. Look, there's going to have to be negotiations, release of hostages, both Palestinian prisoners, hostages and the Israeli hostages, and the sooner that happens the better, and we move to negotiations for a two-state solution. I would ask you to continue in terms of trying to build what I would call the coalition of the willing. Ireland has managed to get some other European countries on board to continue with that work. Hopefully other countries in Europe will come on board and that we will keep applying as much pressure as possible on Israel to stop the slaughter and the horror show that it is Gaza and the West Bank. Thanks, everybody Stanley, and we certainly will do that. The beauty of Irish foreign policy is its consistency. We're always in favour of human rights, we're always in favour of international law, and we're always in favour of peace and dialogue, regardless of the parties involved. I often hear Ireland's position misrepresented, are you pro this country, are you anti that country? We're pro- international law, we're pro-multilateralism, we're pro-human rights and humanitarian law, and I think it's easy to speak up and speak out for your country when your foreign policy is grounded on those principles and is so consistent. We will continue to work to build alliances, both at a European level but also working with Arab states, because we all hope and pray we arrive at a point where the killing stops, the genocide stops, and we can actually have a discussion about the future of Gaza and how you begin to build a two-state solution. And I think we all have to, I'm acknowledging today that there are obviously intense ceasefire talks underway. We really have to hope that they yield progress in the coming days. Thank you.