MIDDLE EAST: The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, has condemned as "completely disproportionate" the attack by Israeli troops on Palestinian demonstrators in the Rafah district of Gaza.
With reports suggesting that many children were among the 23 people killed in the attack, Mr Cowen said the killing of children "does not serve any legitimate cause and degrades any purpose which it purports to advance".
Mr Cowen said the situation looked "very pessimistic" after meeting in Dublin the Palestinian chief negotiator, Dr Saeb Erekat, who was with a delegation from the Organisation of the Islamic Conference.
Dr Erekat said the actions by Israel in Gaza were "nothing short of a war crime and state terror being exercised against the civilian population".
Calling on the EU to send humanitarian aid to the region, he said the Palestinians were relying for medical aid on a three-room clinic in Rafah because there was no hospital at the camp.
Stating that recent Israeli actions in Gaza had left 44 dead, wounded hundreds and left 10,000 homeless, he said the campaign was "in no way self-defence".
Dr Erekat continued: "At this hour of despair as Palestinian people we remain committed to a peace process, we remain committed to a negotiated settlement." Asked what he would say to anyone planning retaliation for the attack yesterday, Dr Erekat said: "I don't think we need the mentality of confrontation, revenge and retaliation. We need the mentality of reconciliation. We need the mentality of vision. We need the mentality of peace."
The leader of the Islamic conference delegation and Malaysian Foreign Minister, Mr Hamid Albar, called on Israel to lift the siege on the compound of the Palestinian President, Mr Yasser Arafat.
Mr Cowen said situation in Gaza was on the agenda for the EU-US summit during the visit next month of President Bush. The EU was already urging the US to use its influence with Israel to revive the road-map process.
Accusing the Israeli troops showing "a reckless disregard for human life", Mr Cowen said that leaders on all sides should summon fortitude and vision to take control of the situation.
"I would once again remind Israel, the occupying power, that the fourth Geneva Convention relative to the protection of civilian persons in time of war is fully applicable to the Gaza Strip."
