The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, has called off a planned fact-finding mission to the Middle East after Israel failed to cooperate. Mrs Robinson's report to the UN Human Rights Commission on the "deteriorating situation in the occupied Palestinian territory" will now be based on reports from "all concerned organisations" in the area.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs expressed his "deep regret" that Mrs Robinson would not be able to carry out her mission.
Earlier during a UN Security Council debate, Ireland repeated its request to the Israeli government to allow Mrs Robinson to enter Israel and the Palestinian areas to fulfil her mandate.
This comes as three people were reported to have been killed in the latest violence in the Middle East. A Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up near a Jewish settlement in the Gaza Strip. It has also been reported that a nine-year-old Palestinian boy and a teenager have been killed in separate incidents in Ramallah.
The Israeli army was reported to have withdrawn from Jenin, but is maintaining a presence around the city.
Palestinian witnesses also said that Israeli tanks re-occupied the city of Qalqilya for a time overnight. In a separate development, two Palestinian men were shot dead during a military incursion by Israeli tanks and troops into the southern Gaza Strip.
The European Union's External Affairs Commissioner, Chris Patten, has called for an investigation into the Israeli army's activities in the Palestinian territories.
The United Nations Secretary General earlier defended his suggestion that an international peacekeeping force should be sent to the Middle East to help end the current crisis in the region.
At a closed session of the Security Council, Kofi Annan said that the Israelis and Palestinians had been driven so far apart that serious attention must be given to the deployment of a strong multi-national force.
Diplomats representing Arab nations have largely welcomed Mr Annan's proposals; but they have been rejected by Israel.
An Israeli spokesman said that some form of international involvement might be necessary in the long term, but it would not be a valuable contribution at the moment.
The American Ambassador at the United Nations, John Negroponte, told reporters that Israel's agreement would be needed because any such arrangement would have to be with the "mutual consent of the parties".
