THE pressure on Israel built up yesterday following the killing of some 97 civilians at a UN base in south Lebanon. Following condemnations and calls for peace from many world leaders the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Shimon Peres, announced that he was willing to consider a ceasefire if the Hizbullah guerrillas also agreed.
Early today the UN Security Council called for an immediate cessation of hostilities by all parties.
The Taoiseach condemned Israel's "barbarity" and called on Israel to show that it respects the norms of international behaviour
The attack was "something which should not be undertaken by any civilised government", Mr Bruton said. His condemnation was echoed by other world leaders, including the UN Secretary-General, Dr Boutros Boutros Ghali, and the European
Commission.
Later last night, President Clinton, on his arrival in St Petersburg en route for a summit of world leaders in Moscow, called for an "immediate ceasefire". "An end to the fighting is essential to allow our diplomatic efforts to go forward," he said.
Mr Clinton announced he would send the US Secretary of State, Mr Warren Christopher to the Middle East. The US Middle East co-ordinator, Mr Dennis Ross, is expected to precede him to work on a ceasefire.
The Lebanese Prime Minister, Mr Rafik al-Hariri, said he was in contact with Hizbullah concerning a possible ceasefire with Israel. Mr Hariri said in an interview with CNN that he had discussed a possible ceasefire by telephone with Mr Christopher who hoped to be in the region tomorrow.
In his strongly-worded statement Mr Bruton said that violence would solve nothing, "whether violence by states or violence by terrorist organisations". "It leaves a legacy of hatred and bitterness and frustration", he added.
He said: "All who attended the summit against terrorism at Sharm al Sheikh [last month in Egypt] expressed our solidarity with Israel in its fight against terrorism but that provides no cover for acts of violence of the kind we have seen.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Spring, called on the UN Security Council "to pursue its efforts to end the crisis". He was appalled by the attack on Unifil and on innocent civilians".
He said that the Government has been pressing all parties involved in the conflict to show the utmost restraint since the start of the crisis.
The Government's concerns had been conveyed to the Israeli ambassador who was summoned to the Department of Foreign Affairs earlier this week.
"These concerns will be actively pursued by the FU Troika mission, in which Ireland is participating, during its visit to Israel," Mr Spring said.
The Minister for Social Welfare, Mr De Rossa, said: "On behalf of Democratic Left I want to condemn this barbaric attack by Israeli forces on a UN base in southern Lebanon. Such atrocities can be no more acceptable to the world than suicide attacks on buses in Israeli cities. In all of these cases it is civilians who are paying the price of the military ambitions of others."
The Israeli ambassador to Ireland, Mr Zvi Gabay, said that Katyusha rockets had been launched by Hizbullah from a position close to the Fijian base shortly before it was hit by Israeli artillery.
This was confirmed by a UN spokesman, who said the rockets had been fired into Israel from a point 350 metres away from the base.
Mr Gabay said Israel had "begun negotiations in order to find a peaceful solution. Our bombardment will stop once Katyusha rockets stop bombarding" northern Israel.