An Archbishop today urged the Irish government to work to foster protection for international humanitarian law in the Middle East crisis.
In a special Mass for Peace in the capital's Pro-Cathedral amidst the ongoing violence in Lebanon, Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Diarmuid Martin, said the government must use international frameworks to ensure laws protecting civilians and infrastructures were respected by all without exception.
"I would hope at this stage that the Irish government would do all in its power within international frameworks to ensure that humanitarian aid reaches those most in need and to stress unrelentingly that in any conflict international humanitarian law — which protects civilians and civilian infrastructures — is binding on all States and also on all non-State actors without exception," he said as the 10-day Israeli assault on Lebanon continued.
Israeli troops and tanks were today gathering on Lebanon's border, and officials said the army was preparing for a limited incursion in the near future.
Archbishop Martin said the Gospel of his Mass showed how Jesus was moved by people who gathered to hear his words as they were like sheep without a shepherd.
"Jesus was referring to how the people had constantly been failed throughout biblical history by their religious and political leaders. Only God remained true to his people in the face of the many disintegrating pressures," Dr Martin told those gathered for the Mass for Peace.
"How true those words must ring to the people in the Holy Land today who are victims of the conflict and who once again must feel betrayed and abandoned by the inability of the consort of nations to guarantee for them their basic rights and securities in the face of hidden interests and fostered hatreds.
"To these innocent people the international community must appear 'shepherd-less', once again unable to find its own unity of purpose in the face of a seemingly never-ending conflict."
The government yesterday pledged emergency funding of one million euro in relief assistance to war-stricken Lebanon and Palestine.
Around 500,000 euro in humanitarian relief will be made immediately available for Lebanon and 500,000 in support to Palestine.
Minister of State Conor Lenihan said the Government was extremely concerned at the large number of civilian casualties and the continued destruction of essential infrastructure.
As the funding was announced he said: "We will continue to exert our influence directly with the parties and within the EU and at the UN to end the crisis and encourage a return to political negotiation."