Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 21 March 2023
99. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs if he had any discussions on the impacts of Israel’s continued aggression and illegal occupation of Palestinian territory and its destabilising effects on the region during his recent trip to Lebanon; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5133/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraI undertook a visit to Lebanon from 25 - 27 January this year. The key focus of the mission was to visit the Irish troops serving with UNIFIL and discuss the investigations into the 14 December attack on a UNIFIL vehicle in Al-Aqbieh in which Private Seán Rooney died and three others were injured.
During the visit I met with the Lebanese Minister for Foreign Affairs and Emigrants, Dr Abdullah Bou Habib, and with the Minister for Defence, Mr Maurice Sleem. These political level meetings provided an opportunity to underline the need to ensure that the ongoing investigations by UNIFIL and by the Lebanese authorities into the incident are thorough and complete as possible. While there were some discussions on some regional issues, current events in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory were not discussed in any detail.
Ireland remains deeply concerned by those current events, including the high number of casualties in recent months. The Israeli Palestinian conflict is a key foreign policy priority for Ireland and is a regular point of discussion with regional partners and in multilateral formats including in the EU and at the UN.
