Ivor Callely
Ceist:105 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the progress that has been made to address the grave concerns at the crisis in the Middle East; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13072/01]
Vol. 535 No. 5
105 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the progress that has been made to address the grave concerns at the crisis in the Middle East; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13072/01]
The Government is deeply concerned about the recent escalation of violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We deplore all acts of violence and call on both sides to this conflict to do all in their power to avoid further degeneration of the already serious situation.
It is essential that peace negotiations are resumed and that they address the central issues. Relaunching low level negotiations with very limited aims would fall short of what is required.
The Egyptian-Jordanian initiative is very promising. It offers a realistic way forward towards the resumption of negotiations. Ireland would welcome a response by the Israeli Government which could lead to this.
Security measures alone are not capable of building peace. What is required is a series of concurrent measures, including a lifting of the closures, an end to the withholding of revenues, implementation of existing agreements, an end to further settlement building, a de-escalation of the military response and a call by President Arafat to end the violence.