Ireland had long been sympathetic to the unqualified right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, the Minister for Foreign Affairs told the Dail. Mr Cowen said this included the option of a state and was not subject to any veto.

"We would prefer to see this achieved through a negotiated solution. We believe, together with our partners in the EU, that the establishment of a democratic, viable and peaceful sovereign Palestinian state would be the best guarantee of Israel's security and acceptance as an equal partner in the region, an objective which we equally support."

Mr Cowen, who was speaking during a debate on the situation in the Middle East, said it was a matter of grave concern. "It has already taken an appalling toll of life and put in jeopardy the Middle East peace process in which so many hopes have been placed. It poses a threat to the stability of the whole region. I have extended my deepest sympathy to the families of all those who have been killed and those who were injured.

"What has happened in the Palestinian territories and Israel is truly tragic. Just at the moment when the parties were closer to an agreement than they have ever been, the essential basis for peace - trust and confidence - has been seriously undermined. Instead, anger and frustration, stemming from the failure of each side to understand the problems of the other, have boiled over, resulting in the horrors that we have witnessed."

The Government, he said, had made its position clear. "We deplore all acts of violence. We have called on both sides to exercise the utmost restraint and to do all in their power to avoid further escalation. We have underlined the need for both sides to act quickly to reach agreement on the Middle East peace process and to avert the danger that this conflict might extend further. The objective must remain the achievement of a just, comprehensive and lasting peace in the Middle East, which must necessarily recognise both Israel's right to live in peace and security and the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people."

The Fine Gael spokesman on foreign affairs, Mr Jim O'Keeffe, said the EU should take a stronger role in the Middle East peace process, "with the enlargement of the Union into central and eastern Europe and even more so when it extends to the eastern Mediterranean, with the accession of Cyprus and, eventually, Turkey. At that stage, Israel and Palestine will be our next-door neighbours."

The Labour spokesman on foreign affairs, Mr Michael D. Higgins, said that instead of being afraid to stir itself to condemn what should be condemned, the EU should move to a mode of activism, not just by expressing concern at violence but also by examining the necessary principles to establish an enduring peace.