Cowen urges Israel to end Palestinian attacks

The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, has called on Israel to end its helicopter attacks of Palestinians targets and to exercise restraint.

Mr Cowen said such attacks risked a further escalation of the conflict with unpredictable consequences.

He urged both sides to move quickly to renew security co-operation with the aim of ending the cycle of violence and “to take all necessary steps to resume negotiations leading to a just, comprehensive and lasting solution”.

Mr Cowen said: “The Irish Government has repeatedly emphasised its abhorrence at the killing and wounding of innocent civilians, Palestinians and Israelis”.

Yesterday he sent a letter to Israeli Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Shimon Peres, expressing the Government’s horror at what he described as the “appalling attacks over the weekend which killed at least 25 Israeli civilians”.

The letter condemned the attacks, saying that no cause justifies the deliberate taking of innocent lives.

The Minister voiced “the hope that, even in this hour of great tragedy, the Israeli government would continue working to find a way to move forward and to bring an end to this conflict which had taken such a toll of human life”.