Tánaiste Micheál Martin has accused Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of undermining the United Nations and the international rules-based order after Mr Netanyahu called on UNIFIL peacekeepers to withdraw from combat areas in south Lebanon.
Mr Martin is attending a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg which will be dominated by the escalating crisis in the Middle East and Russia's war against Ukraine.
Arriving at the meeting, Mr Martin said: "Prime Minister Netanyahu… is essentially now undermining the United Nations and the United Nations peacekeeping force, and the very rules-based international order, and he needs to step back.
"The international community needs to be very clear, and my colleagues at the European Council need to be very clear about the primacy of the international rules-based order.
"The United Nations is at the heart of that, and United Nations peacekeepers are at the heart of that."
Following international criticism about attacks on UNIFIL personnel and bases, Mr Netanyahu said in a video message yesterday evening: "We regret the harm to Unifil soldiers and we are doing our utmost to prevent such harm. But the simplest and most obvious way to ensure this is simply to withdraw them from the danger zone."
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The Tánaiste accused Israel of attempting to "drive the eyes and ears out of south Lebanon and to give itself free rein" by its attacks on UNIFIL positions.
He acknowledged that there was a battle going on between Hezbollah and the Israeli Defence Forces in south Lebanon and he said Ireland had also called on the militant group, which the EU designates as a terrorist organisation, to stop firing rockets into Israel.
He said once the war ended there would have to be some UN presence in south Lebanon to maintain whatever peace or political agreement emerged.
"We cannot have an undermining and a chipping away of the status or the credibility or structures of the United Nations and particularly its peacekeeping forces," he told reporters.
Mr Martin said recent IDF attacks in northern Gaza, including hitting a school sheltering displaced people, had shown that the world had no full picture of what was happening in Gaza.
He called for an EU or international team to be allowed into Gaza to monitor what was happening.
"What's happening in the most recent days in northern Gaza is quite shocking in terms of the mass expulsion of people… and the death and destruction of innocent people.
"That is not acceptable or morally tolerable anymore. Quite a number of our EU member states really need to stand up now on the side of what's right and proper and moral in terms of humanity.
"I'm surprised that some EU colleague states have not been as forceful or as strong in supporting UN peacekeeping troops as they could be. The statement we've issued is welcome, but I think the statement the EU is issuing on this matter could be far stronger," he said.
'Clear breach of international law'
Taoiseach Simon Harris has said he has told the Israeli President that the recent attacks on UN peacekeepers are "utterly unacceptable" and "a clear breach of international law.
Mr Harris said he made the comments during a telephone conversation with Isaac Herzog today.
He said he took the opportunity to speak with Israeli President because he "wanted to convey to him, in the strongest possible terms, the absolute importance of peacekeepers being respected and international law being upheld".
Mr Harris also said he conveyed to Mr Herzog his view that "attacks on peacekeepers was not just utterly unacceptable, but a clear breach of international law".
The Taoiseach said he fully respects any state's right to defend itself, adding that he deplores all forms of terrorism.
However, he said the peacekeepers "deserve to be protected in any such scenario and any such scenario to defend yourself also has to be proportionate".
Speaking at Government Buildings this evening, Mr Harris accused Israel of "crossing yet another line".
"The first line was crossed in Gaza with the brutal humanitarian impact on children and civilians and now we see a further line crossed in relation to peacekeepers, in the words of the United Nations, being deliberately fired on."
"I do welcome the fact the that President Herzog said to me that he understood the importance of protecting peacekeepers and that he assured me that Israel will take this matter extraordinary seriously, but being very honest, I will judge Israel on their actions and not their words in relation to this," he added.
Asked if it was a worthwhile and effective call to make to Mr Herzog, Mr Harris said: "I always think it's really important to engage and I always think it's really important in my role to convey the position of the Irish people and the Irish government."
"Our position on this is crystal clear."
"What has happened to peacekeepers in recent days, the deliberate firing, and they are the words of the United Nations which I fully support, but also the intimidatory behaviour.
"We saw the Israeli Defense Forces effectively coming upon our outpost. That sort of intimidatory behaviour is not acceptable. It is a clear breach of every norm and of international law," Mr Harris said.
He added: "It can't be tolerated. It has to be called out and it's really important now that all of the world speaks with one voice in relation to this."
The Taoiseach said he wants to see the conflict in the Middle East end.
"I want to see it de-escalated. I want to see a ceasefire."
"But my most important job as the Taoiseach of this country is to speak up in support of our peacekeepers, the men and women, the 379 of them who are serving with bravery and distinction."
He said he also conveyed to the President of Israel how worrying and anxious a time it is for the families of peacekeepers.
"I do acknowledge that he said very clearly that he understood and would relay to all parts of the Israeli government the concerns and the views that I had put forward."
The Taoiseach added: "I welcome that, but like I say, we'll be judging people on actions and not words."
Focus on conflicts
The meeting of EU foreign ministers will focus on conflicts in the Middle East and Russia's war against Ukraine.
The ministers are likely to sign off on further sanctions against Iran, including against entities involved in the distribution of weapons both in the region and to Russia, to fuel its war against Ukraine.
Foreign ministers will also look at ways to tackle countries and corporations who have been helping Russia evade Western sanctions, including those facilitating Moscow’s vast fleet of so-called shadow tankers shipping oil around the globe in breach of Western sanctions.
Diplomats also say ministers will look at ways to get around Hungary’s continuing hold up of financial support to Ukraine, both at EU and G7 level, as the country braces itself for Russia’s determination to destroy civilian energy infrastructure as winter approaches.
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy will attend the meeting of foreign ministers as part of Prime Minister Keir Starmer's ongoing bid to develop closer ties with the EU.
Additional reporting Paul Cunningham, Fergal O'Brien
