The Government must "strongly protest" to the Israeli ambassador about the response by Israeli forces to rocket attacks from the Palestinian territory, Fine Gael said today.
Foreign affairs spokesman Billy Timmins called on Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern to voice his concern.
"While acknowledging that Israel has a right to protect the security of its citizens and the State, the action of the IDF [Israeli Defence Forces] - which resulted in the death of several children - was disproportionate to the Palestinian attack," he said.
"People are growing wearisome of this external conflict that is achieving nothing only death, destruction and more division.
"I welcome the comments by the US Secretary of State that Israel and Palestine are to resume peace talks and hope that a date for these talks is set as soon as possible," Mr Timmins added.