Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There is a fundamental issue in terms of Israel's approach to the United Nations more generally. We might remember that UNIFIL is there as a result of the UN Security Council. In my view, Israel cannot continue to undermine UN agencies. We see what is happening in the Knesset in respect of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, UNRWA, for example, which is a vital UN agency in bringing humanitarian aid to Gaza and Lebanon and across the Middle East. Without UNRWA, we could never contemplate the reconstruction of Gaza. All UN agencies and external agencies are absolutely clear on that, and other countries are as well. We had the description of the UN Secretary General as persona non grata by the Israeli Prime Minister. We have had these unacceptable attacks and, essentially, the crossing of a red line in respect of the firing on UN outposts in Naquora, which resulted in the injury of UN peacekeepers. Those are new departures in many respects. We have to uphold the primacy of the UN and the multilateral system. Israel has to be very conscious that the rest of world cannot tolerate an undermining of the rules-based international order because if that is allowed to happen here, it can happen elsewhere in terms of the primacy and importance of the United Nations.

We are, therefore, at a crucial tipping point in respect of the status of the UN and of peacekeepers and peacekeeping roles. This is a crucial moment. That is why all the troop-contributing countries are co-operating with a view to maintaining the mandate, imperfect as it is, but are also conscious that in the aftermath of this conflict, they may very well be called upon again to mediate and make sure we can keep and ensure the peace.

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