Ireland is calling for an end to provocative actions in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and continues to press for the introduction of international monitors as a means of reducing tension.
Actions by either side which are likely to intensify the conflict have been condemned. A Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman described the Israeli incursion into the Palestinian village of Beit Jala as "an act of reoccupation" which flew in the face of the Oslo peace process and he welcomed reports that the troops were being withdrawn under international pressure. But Ireland is also strongly opposed to the spate of suicide bomb attacks against Israeli civilians.
Along with its EU partners, the Government has repeatedly called on both sides to exercise the "utmost restraint" in current circumstances. In a recent statement, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen said: "Terrorism must be fought with unfailing determination. Extra-judicial killings are contrary to international law."
He continued: "I believe that a third-party monitoring mechanism is needed, and, at this critical time, would serve the interests of both parties."
He also reiterated the Government's "total support" for the implementation of the recommendations of the report prepared under the chairmanship of Senator George Mitchell.
Published last May, the report called for a ceasefire and a series of confidence-building measures by both sides.
The Minister is due to visit Middle East capitals next month prior to his attendance at the UN General Assembly in New York. Ireland assumes the presidency of the UN Security Council for the month of October. The Government is closely aligned with the approach of its EU partners to Middle East policy but, given the level of violence in the region, no significant initiative appears to be in preparation at the moment. Outlining the Irish position at a meeting of the Security Council last week, Ambassador Gerard Corr called for the resumption of active and effective mediation and said it was time to remove obstacles to the implementation of the Mitchell Report.
He reiterated the urgent need for a third-party monitoring system and said the message of the Council to both sides must be to offer the full and active support of the international community in helping them to turn once again to the only possible way forward: dialogue and peace-building. "The Irish authorities are gravely concerned at the closure of Orient House, which has become in recent years a symbol of the Palestinian people's aspirations to sovereignty, and of other institutions in occupied East Jerusalem."