Israel could face international legal action for bombing civilians, destroying property and killing United Nations observers in southern Lebanon, an all-party Oireachtas committee said.
The Israeli attacks, including last week's bombing in Qana that killed dozens of civilians, mostly children, were condemned as "indiscriminate" and "appalling" by the Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Israel should face European Union trade sanctions for human rights abuses under Article 2 of the Euro-Mediterranean agreement, the committee, which met in emergency session, agreed.
The meeting was called by the committee's chairman, Fianna Fáil TD Michael Woods, to discuss a motion proposed by Labour TD Michael D Higgins, which demanded an immediate ceasefire and humanitarian relief for civilians.
"It is not acceptable for Israel to order Lebanese civilians to leave their homes and livelihoods and, at the same time, to bomb the exit roads and the convoys of fleeing civilians," said Mr Woods.
"It is not acceptable to turn southern Lebanon into a free-fire zone and to act on the assumption that all those who remain are legitimate targets," he told the meeting.
Following more than three hours of debate, the committee amended Mr Higgins's motion to demand that the United Nations set up a permanent body to push for a peaceful settlement of all Middle Eastern issues.
Attacks upon civilians are never lawful under the Geneva Convention, regardless of whether Hizbullah is firing rockets into Israel from villages in southern Lebanon, said Mr Higgins.
Though he sharply condemned Hizbullah for its rocket attacks on civilians in northern Israel, the Galway West TD said the presence of Hizbullah in Lebanese villages was not a justification for attacking them.
Israel could not justify its attacks by complaining that the Lebanese government had not disarmed Hizbullah in line with a UN resolution because this would have prompted a Lebanese civil war.
TDs and Senators were noticeably cool, however, towards the idea that a United Nations force, possibly including Irish soldiers, should be sent to police a buffer zone in southern Lebanon.
Senator Paschal Mooney (FF) said the deployment of such a force, following Israel's US-supported attacks, would be "perceived by Hizbullah and the wider Arab world as a further occupation by the Crusaders".
The Israeli attack on the UN outpost at Khiam, which left four peacekeepers dead, was "an act of murder", he said, regardless of Israel's subsequent protestations that the killings were accidental.
Senator Mary O'Rourke said any multi-national force would now face "a mammoth task that could not be carried out in an effective way".
Israel's onslaught on Lebanon was "disproportionate", said Progressive Democrat TD Liz O'Donnell: "It is depressing to see how much good has unravelled. It has become a war zone."
Fine Gael TD Bernard Allen acknowledged the need for the all-party committee to issue a unanimous statement, but he was sharply critical of the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Ireland's "independent foreign policy has been consigned to the dustbin and been consumed into a foreign policy dictated by a few strong nations in the EU", he complained.
However, a majority of members congratulated Dermot Ahern: "He has been remarkable in the statements that he has made. He has used straightforward English," said Ms O'Rourke.
