Ms Nicholl has said: “After fifteen months of horror, the announcement of a deal in relation to Gaza has brought much-needed hope in the midst of extraordinary suffering and bloodshed.
“The Alliance Party’s thoughts are with those mourning loved ones and the hostages who will soon be reunited with their families. While this does not in itself guarantee peace in the region, it does offer an important window of opportunity to provide shelter, food and medical supplies to those who have suffered so much in recent months.
“Members of the Palestinian community in Northern Ireland tell me they are feeling mixed emotions. Relief, sadness, fear but above all else, a desire for confirmation that their families will now be safe. With 46,000 dead, over 17,000 children left unaccompanied or separated from their families, and only 16 of the region’s 36 hospitals remaining partially operational – the scale of the problems faced cannot be underestimated.
“It is imperative that the international community now does all it can to ensure the permanent end to violence in the region, and prioritise the urgent delivery of aid to prevent a deepening of the ongoing humanitarian crisis.
“People must also be able to return to their homes in line with their rights and the UK and Irish Governments must support family reunification, as well as a Gaza Family Visa Scheme. It is also important that those guilty of war crimes on all sides are held to account for their actions as part of our fundamental obligations under international law.
“We must do everything we can to secure a two-state solution and ensure that there is no repetition of these devastating events in any location around the world ever again.”