"The situation in Lebanon is interlinked with the situation in Palestine. We must get a hold of the various attempts that have been made to solve that con"ict. You can't solve the problem in Lebanon without tackling the problems in Gaza.

"Israel has focused on an almost exclusively militaristic strategy. The EU is not entirely innocent in all of this either. The EU is the largest customer of Israel and the largest donor of aid to Palestine, so they should be taking a more active role in the region. There is the desperate need for an independent peace initiative from the EU which would have a sustained presence in the region. The EU would be a far more acceptable intermediary in the region than the US, which is the main sponsor of Israel.

"I am absolutely appalled by the actions of the US over recent weeks. They have blocked the cease"re, which is totally unjustifable, and have been silent on the breaches of international law. It is deeply unfortunate that anybody who articulates this is then accused of being anti-American. Is Jimmy Carter anti-American? There is the added problem in this case of anybody who speaks out against Israel being accused of anti-semitism. That really is the cheapest shot of all.

"The Irish government has been critical of Israel's actions over recent weeks, but what we need is for the Irish government to make its position known. At the moment it says that Ireland's position on the Middle East is wrapped up in the EU common declaration, but people in Ireland are tired of seeing "ghting and want to know where Ireland stands.

"We need a cease"re in the region immediately. Unfortunately, it does not look like we are going to get one. Instead, it looks tragically as if Hezbollah are going to "re rockets deeper into Israel, which will lead to an escalation of Israeli actions and the inevitable loss of innocent life."

JAMES BOWEN UCC professor and chairman of the Irish Palestinian Solidarity Campaign "The media and the population in general have a very short memory in terms of Lebanon. Israel has been a constant aggressor towards its neighbour. The media has so far portrayed Hezbollah as instigators of this war by taking two Israeli soldiers, but this did not come out of the blue. Israel has carried out a number of assassinations, including two prominent members of the Islamic Jihad.

"In 1982 Israel invaded Lebanon occupying the southern border. In 2000 Israel had held Lebanese prisoners without trial and has kept bodies as bargaining chips for prisoner swaps.

"Israel has also staged low-level sonic boom raids in Lebanon. All this has been non-provoked and all are aspects of Israel's ongoing aggression.

"I don't know where the future lies for Lebanon, but I do believe there could be a cease"re soon. This will only come if the US and Israel call a halt to the "ghting.

There might be peace in 100 years or so, but only if we see justice."

JOHN O'SHEA Chief executive of Goal "People turn to the United Nations for help just because they have nowhere else to go. Unfortunately, it is almost meaningless to ask it to solve the problem. It is a fundamentally "awed entity and it has proven unable to protect the vulnerable and the poor of this world.

"The UN needs a standing army to intervene and to protect the innocent. But there is no such army and so why would the two sides in this "ghting stop? The main reason why millions of peope die is the sheer indifference of the international community.

We need Israel's friends to tell her to stop, and we need Hezbollah's friends to tell her to stop. There are rockets going both ways, so as far as I'm concerned both sides are wrong.

"Goal doesn't have any staff in the area because it is too dangerous. In areas like Darfur and Uganda, we know where the "ghting is and we know how to get out of harm's way. In this situation, where there are missles being "red at the touch of a button, you can't ask people to put their lives at risk."

DAVID NORRIS Senator and academic "I absolutely deplore the attack on civilians, whether it's from Hezbollah, which is irresponsible, or from Israel, which is equally as irresponsible. I believe it is, in effect, a proxy war between Iran and Syria on one side and America and Israel on the other, which is identical to the disastrous situation in Afghanistan and not dissimilar to the catastrophe in Iraq.

"I think it's really a tragic error that Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert has allowed Israel to be lured by Hezbollah into the kind of military position from which it will be very dif"cult to extract itself credibly and with honour. I fear that reckless actions by Olmert, supported by George Bush, will squander and dissipate the capital so tragically amassed in the horri"c circumstances of the European Holocaust against Jewish people.

"I believe that there will be no ultimate resolution of this problem, which will either continue to fester or else explode disastrously unless a proper accommodation is made for a fully functional Palestinian state within the framework of the existing UN resolution. In the meantime, old ladies in Haifa, Arab Israelis in Nazareth, and children in Qana will continue to suffer and perish."

ALAN SHATTER Former Fine Gael TD "At the heart of the current Lebanese-Israeli crisis lies the Islamic Republic of Iran. Since the revolution in Iran, the Islamic fundamentalist government has been opposed to every Middle East peace initiative. Iran is opposed to a twostate solution to the Israeli-Palestinian con"ict, and by funding Hamas in the Palestinian territory and Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Iranians have built up and encouraged the establishment of two fundamentalist Islamic terrorist organisations whose only announced aim is the destruction of the Israeli state.

"A question has to be asked: why was Hezbollah building up the level of arms it has built up? For one reason and one reason only . . . essentially because Hezbollah is "ghting Iran's proxy war against Israel from southern Lebanon. Its policy is directed from Tehran, whose objective is to wipe Israel off the map.

"The tragedy is that Israel pulled out of southern Lebanon six years ago and out of the Gaza Strip one year ago. In both cases, the Israeli pull-out should have been building blocks in the direction of peace. Unfortunately, the consequences to the Israelis has been the "ring of rockets from the Gaza Strip into Israel's towns, and SEAN GANNON Chairman of the Irish Friends of Israel, and researcher on Irish and Israeli affairs "The timing of the war in Lebanon is directly related to the nuclear crisis in Iran. Tehran's terrorist efforts have been targeted mainly on Israel. Hezbollah is being "nancially supported and controlled by Tehran and I believe this war in Lebanon was instigated by Iran to divert international attention away from its nuclear enrichment programme in order to buy it more time. For Israel, this war has been necessary and is in proportion with the continuing threats it has received. The nuclear threat is well recognised by Israel's state security services. What will happen next is likely to be a UN cease"re. There is concern over the mounting casualties on both sides. It's important to note that Hezbollah has killed more American civilians than any other terrorist organisation since before 9/11, so America would be happy to end the "ghting now. There have been negotiations between America and France to end the "ghting and they are likely to come to a solution."

JUSTIN KILCULLEN Director of Trocaire "The slaughter in Qana last week demonstrates that this war is an intolerable way to deal with an international problem.

Using modern weaponry is no longer acceptable because so many innocent civilians are being put at risk. In the "rst world war, 10 soldiers died for every one civilian. But in this war, it's the other way round, and 10 civilians are dying for every one soldier. I think this is an unneccessary war, and is totally out of proportion to the events that sparked it off. What's going on is illegal and unjusti"ed.

"Israel must be forced to bring it to an end, and Iran has to face up to its role in backing Hezbollah. There has to be a cease"re, and ultimately there has got to be a just solution to the Palestinian problem because until that happens there'll be a "are-up every few years.

"The US is backing Israel 100% and sees this as an opportunity to tackle Hezbollah as part of its war on terror. Also, the international community needs to deal with what's going on in the Middle East crisis but it can't even agree on a wording for a cease"re resolution at the United Nations."

from southern Lebanon we now have between 150 to 200 rockets a day being "red into Israeli cities and towns.

"Israel is in a situation where it has millions of its population in bomb shelters with rockets going into the country on daily basis. It's widely accepted that Hezbollah, as a terrorist group, is "ring rockets into Israel so Israel has two choices.

Either do nothing and let the situation continue as it is now with its population remaining in bomb shelters, or respond with the tragic inevitability that there will be the death of civilians. No doubt, what's happening in Lebanon and Israel is horrible and I don't believe there is any one politician or soldier in Israel who wants to be embroiled in the type of war that is taking place today.

"There will not be a solution to the current crisis in the Middle East or a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian con"ict for as long as Iran continues to manipulate terrorist organisations to achieve its political objective, which is a second holocaust.

"It's urgent that the international community takes whatever action neccessary to end the appalling loss of life in both Lebanon and Israel. It's also urgent for Hezbollah to be disarmed as soon as possible and the sovereignty of southern Lebanon be reinstated."

RAPHAEL SIEV Curator of the Irish Jewish Museum "I think there has been too much focus on recent events and not enough on the actions that began this tragic con"ict.

There was a peaceful, internationally recognised border between Israel and Lebanon and Hezbollah crossed that border to kill and kidnap Israeli soldiers as they lay resting.

There was no warning and it was totally unprovoked. That is a war crime. Israel had no choice but to respond as it has done.

"If you live in a glasshouse and your neighbour throws stones at you, you must respond. Sometimes your response must be a stronger action than the person who initiated the stoning. I think there is a hidden agenda at work. Hezbollah started this in order to take the attention away from Iran's nuclear capabilities. There is a great danger that we lose focus on Iran by focusing too much on Lebanon."

DIARMUID MARTIN Archbishop of Dublin "I would hope at this stage that the Irish government would do all in its power within international frameworks to ensure that humanitarian aid reaches those most in need and to stress unrelentingly that in any con"ict international humanitarian law . . . which protects civilians and civilian infrastructures . . . is binding on all states and also on all nonstate actors without exception.

"Each day we see on our television screens the extraordinary display of the weaponry of death. It's important to remember those who today face once again the horrors of war and violence, of having to abandon their homes and watch their loved ones suffer. They know what is involved since they have seen it all before and have watched other days of hope fade back into violence. We need to answer the appeal by Pope Benedict XVI when he stressed that the people of Lebanon have the right to see the sovereignty and integrity of their nation respected, the people of Israel have the right to be able to live in peace in their own state, and the Palestinian people have the right to a country of their own which is free and sovereign."