Foreign Affairs Committee: The current conflict in the Middle East could develop into a third world war if the international community did not apply enough pressure on the various forces involved to bring them back from the brink, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dermot Ahern, warned yesterday.
Speaking to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Minister said that Ireland shared the belief of the European Union that Israel's military response in Gaza and Lebanon had been harsh and disproportionate.
He added, however, that the recent call by the president of Iran for Israel to be wiped off the face of the earth showed that the current dangerous situation could become a third world war. That was why it was so important that an international monitoring commission, sponsored by the leading powers, was deployed in southern Lebanon as quickly as possible.
During a debate at the committee the scale of Israel's intervention was condemned by all the TDs and senators present, with some of them criticising the European Union for not responding robustly enough.
In his opening speech Mr Ahern said that the action of Hizbullah in launching attacks across the border with Israel last week was cynically calculated to widen and deepen the conflict. "It has brought tragedy and destruction upon the Lebanese people again. It has also diverted the focus of attention from the continuing suffering of the Palestinians in Gaza at a time when negotiations between President Abbas and Hamas were going extremely well," he said.
"The Government's message is very clear. All violence in and from Lebanon, Israel and the Occupied Territories must end. We should not have to wait for further tragedies, be they intended or unintended. All parties have unambiguous and immediate responsibilities and they most act on them.
"Hizbullah must stop its rocket attacks on Israel, which have taken the lives of innocent Israeli citizens. It must release the two captured Israeli soldiers. Syria and Iran have influence on Hizbullah and they must use it now in the interests of regional stability," said the Minister.
On the issue of Israel's reaction Mr Ahern said that there was no doubt that Israelis felt extremely threatened by recent events and they had an absolute right to peace and security.
"But Israel is a strong military power. We share the belief within the EU that its military response in Gaza and in Lebanon has been harsh and disproportionate. Israel has a legitimate right to defend its citizens but this must not be at the expense of the lives and welfare of Lebanese and Palestinian civilians."
In response Labour's Michael D Higgins said that the statement by EU foreign ministers was totally unsatisfactory. He said Ireland had been dragged along with "vapid and banal" statements. It was totally inadequate to describe Israel's action as "disproportionate" and the question arose as to whether it was guilty of war crimes.
Tony Gregory said the Israeli action clearly involved war crimes. Joe Costello of Labour said the EU had undermined Hamas when it was elected democratically to run Gaza.
Pat Carey of Fianna Fáil said that a serious regional conflict was now a real possibility and he called on the committee to unanimously agree a resolution calling for an immediate end to violence.
He was supported by Senator David Norris who said that it had to be recognised that Israel was a state; Hizbullah was not. "It is not acceptable to impose collective punishment on an entire nation."
Senator Paschal Mooney of Fianna Fáil said that he would have had a great deal of sympathy with Israel but it was wrong to punish a sovereign state like Lebanon for the actions of paramilitaries. Senator Paul Bradford of Fine Gael said the lesson of Irish history was that force did not work.
The committee unanimously passed a resolution condemning absolutely the current violence, particularly against civilian targets, and it called on all sides to cease all acts of violence.
Mr Ahern said in reply that the motion passed by the committee was not all that different from the EU communiqué that had been so strongly criticised.
