This vigil takes place against a continued backdrop of escalating violations of Palestinian rights, sharpening the need for the Government to take action.

A death penalty for Palestinians only. On March 30th 2026, the Israeli Parliament passed the Death Penalty for Terrorists Law, making Israel one of the only democracies to expand capital punishment in recent years. The law applies exclusively to Palestinians. This is a continued demonstration of Israel’s attack on fundamental human rights. UN human rights experts note that mandatory death sentences are prohibited under international law.They stated that the law “effectively singles out Palestinians for execution” and conveys that “Palestinian lives are less worthy of legal protection.” 

A man-made famine and water crisis. The humanitarian situation in Gaza has deteriorated to catastrophic levels. According to the IPC, approximately 470,000 people (22% of Gaza’s population) face the imminent threat of starvation. At least 132,000 children under the age of five are expected to suffer acute malnutrition through June 2026, double the estimates of a year earlier. A total water crisis exists across all of Gaza. Dehydration is making people acutely ill, with children the most vulnerable. Infectious diseases including hepatitis, vomiting and diarrhoea are spreading rapidly in overcrowded areas. Organisers stress that this is not a natural disaster: it is a man-made catastrophe, the result of deliberate restrictions on food, water and humanitarian access.

Enact the Occupied Territories Bill. In July 2025, the cross-party Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade published its pre-legislative scrutiny report on the Occupied Territories Bill. The Committee — with no dissent — strongly recommended that the Government progress the Bill and that the prohibition be extended to include not only goods but also trade in services, in line with the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice and the UN Resolution which Ireland co-sponsored. Despite the report’s publication, the Bill has not yet been enacted. Campaigners warn that any version that excludes services would represent a dilution of Ireland’s stated values and international legal obligations.

At the 2024 general election, every party leader committed publicly to passing the Occupied Territories Bill. It featured in the subsequent Programme for Government. The democratic mandate is clear. What is lacking is the political will to act on it.