Vol. 316 No. 12
asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the assurances that have been sought to date from the Israeli Government in regard to harassment of Irish troops in the UN Force in the Lebanon, if he is satisfied with these assurances, and the further steps proposed by him in the matter.
14.
asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the full details of attacks and harassment of Irish troops in the UN Force in the Lebanon over the past 12 months.
With the permission of the Ceann Comhairle, I propose to take Questions Nos. 13 and 14 together.
The Deputy will recall that in replying to his Question on this matter on 17 July last the Minister for Foreign Affairs outlined the basic position regarding the setting up of UNIFIL by the UN Security Council and the functioning of the force under the overall direction of the UN secretary-General. The Minister pointed out that the UN constantly uses its best efforts to reduce the harassment of the force and that in this context, and in the interests of our troops, we have helped and supported these efforts of the UN.
Attacks on and harassment of Irish troops serving with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) over the past 12 months have taken the form principally of:
—firing and shelling at or near Irish troop positions;
—attempts at infiltration into the Irish Battalion area;
—attempts to restrict the movements of Irish troops as, for example, by road blocks.
The source of the harassment of Irish troops has been principally the de facto forces which, as the Deputy will be aware, are supplied and supported by Israel. There has also been some difficulty with certain Palestinian and Lebanese elements in the area but these incidents have tended to be less frequent and less serious.
January, April, May, June, July and August were months of particular harassment of Irish troops. Incidents in some form or other were, however, taking place on an almost daily basis up to September. Since the beginning of September there have been fewer incidents overall. A relative cease-fire obtains which, it is hoped, will enable the force to make further progress in the implementation of its mandate.
During the period to which the Deputy refers a number of incidents give rise to particular concern. These included:
—heavy shelling of two villages in the Irish battalion area in early January;
—shelling and firing at UNIFIL HQ in Naqoura on the night of 18-19 April last during which six of our soldiers were injured;
—at least five incursions by Israeli Defence Forces into the Irish Battalion area between May and August;
—since July, the taking up by the de facto forces of two positions along the outer part of the Irish Battalion area.
Given the almost daily nature of the events to which the Deputy's question refers, it would be difficult, as I feel sure the Deputy will appreciate, to provide him with full details of every incident. The Minister would be glad, however, to provide him with details available to him of any incident which may be of particular concern to him.
As regards assurances from the Israeli authorities concerning harassment of our troops, the Deputy will recall that in his reply to his last question on this subject, the Minister referred in particular to the representations we had made to Israel and to the Israeli Prime Minister's undertaking that Israel opposed without qualification any firing or shelling at units of UNIFIL. Since that time we have continued formal representations to the Israelis through diplomatic channels as occasion required. The Minister personally conveyed to the Israeli chargé d'affaires, when he visited Dublin at the end of August, the grave concern of the Government at the increase in harassment of our troops at that time, referring in particular to the incursions by Israeli troops into the Irish battalion area. On the same day as this meeting, the Irish Permanent Representative in New York made known our concern to the UN Security Council.
During his recent visit to the United Nations at the end of September the Minister met with the then Foreign Minister of Israel, Mr. Dayan, and reiterated to him the concern of the Government over the harassment of our troops by the de facto forces and urged that Israel would use its influence to help maintain the relative truce which has obtained in the area since the beginning of September. More recently on 12 October the Minister for Defence, Mr. R. Molloy, T.D., during his visit to Irish troops in the Middle East, called on the Israeli Minister for Defence, Mr. Weizman, in Tel Aviv. At that meeting Mr. Weizman assured Mr. Molloy that Israel would do its best to ensure that the de facto forces did not fire on Irish troops.
The UN Secretary-General has recently stated that UNIFIL is performing an absolutely essential task of conflict control in one of the most sensitive and explosive parts of the world. The Government share this view and will continue to assist the Secretary-General in his efforts to reduce the risks faced by the force and to enable it to carry out its mandate. The Minister is satisfied that the Government and the United Nations are using every channel open to them to bring about conditions under which the Force can operate effectively. I am sure this House will again join with him in paying tribute to the courage, discipline and restraint of the officers and men of our Defence Forces serving with UNIFIL who are carrying out their difficult tasks in the cause of world peace.
I should like to take this opportunity of endorsing the last paragraph of the Minister's statement. However, I believe that the best tribute we can pay to our troops is to be concerned about their security. Do I gather from the Minister's reply that while there has not been any serious incidents in the last two months, the harassment and firing at or near the positions of the Irish troops continues on a daily basis?
Yes, that was up to September but since the beginning of that month a relative ceasefire has obtained. The picture, which was very bad up to early September, is now much better in that respect.
While the situation has improved since September, is it true that there continues to be a considerable degree of harassment and firing near the positions of the Irish troops? Is the Minister aware of that situation?
I am aware of the situation and the risks involved and I have spelt out the views of the Minister on that fairly fully. There has been a real improvement in the situation since early September.
If what I say is correct, albeit at a lower level, is there continuing firing near the Irish troops? Would the Minister accept that this is something we cannot be satisfied with? Would he accept that if this harassment and firing continue eventually, on the law of averages, it must lead to a major incident resulting in injury or death to our troops?
It is not a nice situation and the Irish troops are doing a difficult job very well. I should like to pay tribute to the troops involved.
Does the Minister accept that continued pressure is necessary to ensure that all harassment and all firing at or near the Irish troops must cease? Does he accept that it is the duty of the Government, with the full support of the Opposition, to maintain pressure on the Israeli Government, and other bodies concerned, to ensure that the troops are permitted to carry out their duty in a proper manner.
My colleagues, the Ministers for Foreign Affairs and Defence, have done what the Deputy suggested.
I would not like the Minister to be satisfied with the present situation.
Does the Minister agree that there is another dimension to the problems in that the Israeli media have been conducting a one-sided propaganda war against the UNIFIL troops, particularly the Irish troops, which has done much to undermine the morale of those troops?
That is part of the situation.
Have the Department been able to take any action to counteract the Israeli propaganda?
We made the strongest possible representations to the Israeli Government covering all those aspects.
Will the Minister indicate the attitude of the Israeli authorities to the representations made to them? Will the Minister make it clear that the attitude of the Israeli Government is not, and has not been for some time, satisfactory from the point of view of our troops and, therefore, must not be satisfactory from the point of view of the House?
I made the point that since early September, following strong representations by the Government to the Israeli Government, there has been a substantial improvement in the situation, a virtual ceasefire.
What was the attitude of the Israeli Government?
Is the Minister satisfied that the Israeli Government could do more or do we have to wait until we take the bodies home before the real heat is put on them?
That is not a very helpful attitude.
They could do more instead of laughing at us.
There has been a virtual ceasefire and diminution of incidents since early September when my colleagues made representations to the Israeli Government.
That is not quite true.
I understand that the Israeli Minister for Defence at his meeting with our Minister for Defence accepted full responsibility for the activities of Major Hadad and the de facto forces but since the alleged improvement, which the Minister spoke of, in the attitude of the de facto forces towards the Irish troops there has been considerable harassment of our troops serving with UNIFIL. Have the Government given any consideration to summoning the Israeli Ambassador?
We have made the strongest possible representations to the Israeli Foreign Minister and to the Israeli Minister for Defence. This has been done by my tow colleagues and has resulted in a substantial improvement in the situation since early September. I am certain that my colleagues will continue to exert this pressure on the Israeli Government to conform to international standards of behaviour in regard to this matter.
Would the Minister agree that the representations made by the Government to the Israeli Government have not had the desired effect? Therefore, at this stage would the Government consider summoning the Israeli Ambassador to this country?
The whole tenure of my reply was to the effect that the representations have been quite successful in that there has been a virtual ceasefire since early September——
The Minister would not say that if he were serving with the troops.
——compared with the daily harassment that existed in the six months prior to then. But if the situation should deteriorate we would take every action possible in regard to the Israeli Government or to anybody else who in any way should prejudice our interest.
May I take it that the Government are satisfied with the situation in so far as the Irish troops are concerned?
Question Time has concluded but I shall allow Deputy Collins a final supplementary.
The Irish Government are continuing to keep a close eye on the situation.
Is the Minister satisfied with the Israeli Government's position on this whole matter?
The Irish Government will not be satisfied so long as there are Irish people in any form of danger and will continue to take every action possible to ensure the safety of these Irish people.
Would the Minister not agree that the danger still exists?
The remaining Questions will appear on tomorrow's Order Paper.
