Ireland's Tanaiste, or deputy prime minister, Simon Harris, defended the government's position on Thursday that Israel is carrying out a genocide in Gaza, Irish broadcaster RTE reported.

“We are the first government in the European Union (EU) to say what Israel is doing is genocide. It is genocide," Harris told an opposition lawmaker during a heated exchange in parliament, known as the Dáil.

Catherine Connolly, an independent, accused the government of not doing enough to punish Israel for its 19-month-long war on Gaza, which has killed more than 54,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

“I’m disgusted and sickened, sickened - watching children dying on our television screens and every day I come to work, and work with all the people in here to do our best to show leadership at a time of horrific conflict," Harris said.