Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 10, 36 and 39 together.

I thank Deputy Smith for raising this question. Our peacekeepers in Lebanon are part of an international UN-mandated force under the command of UNIFIL. They are part of Ireland's long and proud history of peacekeeping, and I know from my recent visit to our troops in UNIFIL that they are making a really important contribution in a very challenging environment. They are acting as the international community's eyes and ears on the ground. I want to take this opportunity, joining with Deputy Smith and everybody in the House, to state again our thanks to our personnel for the valuable service they carry out in support of international peace and security in the region. I reaffirm once again that their safety and security is a matter of the highest priority for me as Minister for Defence and for the Irish Government. I also thank their families for the sacrifices they make.

To address the incident referred to, while the Irish patrol was not directly targeted by the Israel Defense Forces in the incident on 29 May, the firing of ammunition in the vicinity of an Irish patrol is considered extraordinarily reckless. Such actions are completely unacceptable in terms of the safety of our peacekeepers in the execution of their mandated duties. In my view, it was simply an attempt to intimidate our peacekeepers. We saw an attempt to intimidate our diplomats relatively recently and now we have seen an attempt to intimidate our peacekeepers.

The incident in Yaroun was unconscionable, and I categorically condemn any endangerment of our peacekeepers. On hearing of this development, I immediately directed that my officials convey a formal demarche to both the United Nations and the Israeli mission to the UN in New York to express my deep concern regarding the unacceptable nature of the incident and the actions of the Israel Defense Forces. In this regard, our permanent representative to the United Nations in New York made contact with the Under Secretary General for Peace Operations at the UN, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, on 30 May, immediately after the incident. The deep and well-founded concerns of the Irish Government in relation to the incident were clearly and frankly conveyed to the UN.

Also on my instruction, our permanent mission to the UN expressed our grave concerns and anger directly to the permanent mission of Israel to the United Nations and, through them, to the Israeli Government. Ireland has also requested that UNIFIL formally raise these concerns as a matter of urgency with the appropriate Israeli authorities. Should any further incident of this nature occur, we will continue to do so without hesitation.

I reassure the House that I remain in regular contact with the Chief of Staff with regard to the deployment of our personnel in UNIFIL. The Department is also regularly kept apprised of all developments in those areas where Defence Forces personnel are deployed. There are robust force protection measures in place to support the security and safety of all personnel, and these measures are continually reviewed and enhanced as necessary to address any emerging threat.

We have to be clear about what is going on here. It is a constant attempt to undermine peacekeeping by the Israel Defense Forces. Then they come out with whataboutery and state they will look into matters and issue apologies. It misses the point. There needs to be accountability in relation to those who fired these shots, which were clearly an absolute breach of everybody's basic understanding of international laws and rules in relation to peacekeeping. Sadly, it is not an isolated incident because when our permanent representatives to Palestine were visiting a refugee camp, as diplomats during their duties, we saw a similar incident when shots were fired in their direction. This is a pattern of intimidation by the Israeli Government and the Israel Defense Forces.

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