FORMER PRESIDENT OF Ireland Mary Robinson has called for an end to the supply of weapons from the West to Israel as it launches fatal attacks on Gaza and Lebanon.

“Civilians are paying the price for the pursuit of military approaches over dialogue and political solutions,” she said this morning.

Israel bombarded southern areas of Beirut, Lebanon’s capital, late last night, sending 11 consecutive strikes towards what the Israeli military said were “targets belonging to Hezbollah’s intelligence headquarters in Beirut”.

The bombing hit the primary road that links Beirut to Syria, where many displaced people have been fleeing towards to seek refuge.

Speaking on RTÉ Radio One, Mary Robinson, who is the chair of the high-level advocacy organisation The Elders, said the group “condemns violence against civilians on all sides” of the conflict but that Israel in particular has shown a “lack of any protection for Palestinian civilians in Gaza and Lebanese civilians”, saying the international community must rein Israel in.

“Israel is now acting with impunity because it has not been restrained. The Elders have repeatedly called for the United States to restrain Israel’s actions through the suspension of arms transfers to Israel and where these are now being used in such an aggressive way,” she said.

“Arms transfers, especially of offensive weapons that are not required for legitimate self defense, cannot be justified in a context where international humanitarian law is being violated.”

She pointed to a decision by the Biden administration in August to approve a further $20 billion worth of arms for Israel, adding: “And now we see what’s happening in Lebanon.”

“It’s time for restraint. Israel is acting with impunity and across all the red lines international humanitarian law is being horribly transgressed,” she said.

“The Elders absolutely agree with Israel’s right to defend itself, right to live in a state in peace in the region, that’s what we’ve always championed. But there’s a disproportionate aggressive response by Israel at the moment, and that needs to be reined in and could be reined in by stopping the supply of weapons.”

She also said that she wishes “for the Israeli people to have a better future than this government [under Benjamin Netanyahu] is leading them to”.

Israel’s recent bombing campaign in Lebanon has killed more than 1,000 people, according to a count by the Lebanese health ministry, with hundreds of thousands more forced to flee their homes.

In Gaza, the death toll from Israel’s warfare since last October stands at 41,788, according to Gaza’s health ministry.