'Robust' reply to Israeli settlement plan needed: McEntee

Ireland will "press for a stronger" international response against Israel, the Minister for Foreign Affairs has vowed, following the publication of a tender to construct 1,200 housing units in Palestine.

Minister McEntee criticised the Israeli government for publishing the tender as part of the E1 settlement project in the West Bank.

She was speaking after an Israeli man guarding Jewish settlers who marched into a Palestinian village shot dead a teenager.

The gunman also wounded a 70-year-old man, Palestinian officials said.

The shooting in the occupied West Bank village of Sa'ir followed the latest in what the Israeli military describes as "unauthorised hikes" by settlers, who enter the outskirts of villages in what Palestinians view as deliberate acts of intimidation.

In a statement today, Ms McEntee said the E1 settlement project poses a "fundamental threat" to a contiguous Palestinian state and, ultimately, undermines the possibilty of a two-state solution.

She said that all Israeli settlements in Palestine are illegal under international law and urged Israel's government to "immediately rescind this tender" and to end "all illegal settlement activity".

Ms McEntee said: "Recent attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinian villages and communities, in some cases alongside Israeli Defence Forces, are utterly indefensible.

"They form part of an alarming and escalating pattern of violence by extremist settlers that is terrorising Palestinian communities. There must be accountability for these actions.

"This violence is taking place against the wider backdrop of ever-increasing illegal settlement construction and growing restrictions on the daily lives of Palestinians across the West Bank.

"As the occupying power, Israel has a duty to protect the Palestinian population under its control."

Ms McEntee also called on Israel to remove restrictions on the finances of the Palestinian Authority and release withheld tax clearance revenues.

She said: "The publication of this tender demands a clear and robust response.

"Ireland has taken action at domestic level and will continue to press for a stronger and more co-ordinated response from the European Union and the wider international community.

"The EU must be prepared to respond decisively to actions that violate international law and further erode the prospects for peace.

"Ireland will continue to advocate for meaningful international action and for a peaceful, secure and prosperous future for Palestinians, Israelis and the wider Middle East."

In today's shooting in Sa'ir, Palestinian villagers had thrown rocks toward the settlers, "who were present in the area without advance authorisation", the Israeli military said in a statement.

Some of the settlers were injured, it added.

"A security official opened fire in the area, and there are Palestinian casualties as a result of the shooting," the military said.

Palestinian officials said a 17-year-old boy died after being shot in the chest. The condition of the 70-year-old was not immediately clear.

The village of Sa'ir sits near the city of Hebron in a southern West Bank area under Palestinian Authority civil control and where Israelis are generally prohibited from entering.

The West Bank, home to 3m Palestinians and some 500,000 settlers, has seen a rise in settler violence and seizures of land and resources. A siege by settlers of homes in the village of Qusra this week drew international condemnation.

UN bodies and most countries view the settlements as illegal under international law regarding military occupations. Israel disputes this, citing biblical links to the area.

Overnight, in Jenin in the north, Israeli troops shot and killed a Palestinian man after raiding his home, Palestinian officials said. The military said soldiers shot him after he tried to stab them. No troops were injured, it added.