Leader of the Green Party Trevor Sargent has called for the recall of the Dáil to devise a humanitarian and diplomatic response to the situation in the Middle East.
"There is a moral imperative that we act collectively to press for an immediate ceasefire and announce our unanimous support for the deployment of peacekeeping troops, once an appropriate resolution can be secured in the UN," he said.
He said the escalating conflict had seen nearly a million people displaced in Lebanon and many hundreds of innocent civilians killed.
Humanitarian agencies were warning of catastrophe as supplies of fuel, electricity and clean water are destroyed.
"Ireland, which has some culpability in this conflict for allowing weapons shipments to pass through Shannon airport, must demonstrate its strong and unequivocal support for an end to the fighting and the alleviation of the humanitarian and diplomatic crisis," he said.
"We support the use of firm diplomatic sanctions against Israel should it fail to respond to demands from the international community for a ceasefire. We also support the deployment of Irish peacekeeping troops in the region under a UN mandate."
He added that Israel had long passed the point where it was acting to legitimately protect its citizens and borders. The damage it was inflicting on the Lebanese, as well as the Palestinian and its own civilian population was massively disproportionate, unjustified and counterproductive.
"The realisation in Ireland that negotiations and parity of esteem are the only successful ways of resolving territorial conflicts needs to be brought to the Middle East. Meanwhile, we welcome calls from the Oireachtas Committee for Foreign Affairs for trade sanctions against Israel given the country's refusal to date to call a ceasefire."
