Dear [name of elected representative]

I am writing as your constituent with ongoing alarm at the violence in Palestine and Israel following the attacks by Hamas on October 7 and the subsequent Israeli military response in Gaza and the West Bank.

The international community is rightly united in condemning the horrific attacks of October 7 and the potential war crimes committed by Hamas since. I am also deeply concerned about the potential war crimes being committed by the Israeli government. This includes collective punishment and the failure of all parties to adequately protect civilians and civilian institutions such as hospitals and schools.

When a state is led to believe by its friends that it can respond to an atrocity with no red lines, violence spreads. We are now seeing the results of this in other areas of occupied Palestinian territory not controlled by Hamas. Earlier this week, 30 leading Israeli human rights organisations published a joint emergency call to the international community to stop the “[Israeli] state-backed wave of settler violence in the West Bank which is leading to the forcible transfer of Palestinian communities”.

As fighting continues, the number of civilians killed, injured, detained, and displaced in Gaza and the West Bank continues to rise. EAPPI – an internationally recognised human rights organisation working in the West Bank – has shared this eyewitness account from one of the villages under attack:

“A grave and harrowing crisis is unfolding in the South Hebron Hills, demanding the utmost urgency and gravity. Settlers, masquerading as a military force, have launched a barbaric assault on Susyiah village. They have subjected the inhabitants, including innocent children, to brutal and violent attacks. These aggressors have issued a menacing ultimatum: if the villagers do not vacate within 24 hours, they vow to return and perpetrate murder…The situation is so dire that ten villages have been compelled to forsake their ancestral lands and flee in abject fear. Susyiah village now stands as the next target. We urgently beseech you to intervene without delay and bring this horrific nightmare to a halt.”

Ireland has been at the forefront of the international community in calling for cessation of hostilities and access for humanitarian aid and supplies. I urge you to call on the Irish government to use its influence to seek:

• An immediate ceasefire and release of all hostages
• The immediate facilitation of sufficient humanitarian aid into Gaza
• An end to the state-backed violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank

I also urge you to call on the Government to enact the Occupied Territories Bill to prohibit the import of goods produced in illegal settlements in all occupied territories.

I look forward to hearing about the actions you have taken on these matters.

Thank you,

Kind regards,
[your name + your home address]