I want to raise the issue of the situation in the Middle East, particularly as it pertains to our peace-keeping troops in south Lebanon. I commend the performance and the professionalism of our troops in and around outpost 652 over the last number of days. I shudder to think what would have occurred if our troops had given in to the intimidation and abandoned their position. It would have had a detrimental, domino effect across the entire blue line, with soldiers at the other two-dozen-odd posts looking over their shoulders. What occurred was the opposite, with the actions of our troops stiffening the resolve of the other posts and it reinforced the fact that there will be no more Srebenicas, not on our watch at least. They say that history can turn on the smallest of hinges and perhaps such a hinge is what occurred over the last few days at that outpost. I commend everyone involved in the operation.

I want to focus on the wider issue of the United Nations Interim force in Lebanon, UNIFIL and its viability. There has been some loose talk recently, some of it well intentioned, saying that UNIFIL should not be there and that we should somehow withdraw the 10,000 troops from 50 different nations at the stroke of a pen. I want to make three points about this. I suspect the Tánaiste probably agrees with me anyway. If there had been a UNIFIL-type buffer zone between Gaza and southern Israel 12 months ago, would the attack by Hamas have been allowed to take place? I suggest that it would have been highly unlikely. Even if the attack had happened, would the indiscriminate carpet bombing of Gaza have occurred if there had been a UNIFIL buffer zone in place on the Gaza border? This is also highly unlikely. I emphasise the fact that the attack by Hamas came from an area where there were no UNIFIL troops, not from an area where there were UNIFIL troops. I want to hammer home those points that, yes, we accept the imperfections of UNIFIL but for those people who do not appreciate the presence of UNIFIL troops, I can assure them that they will certainly not appreciate their absence if they are withdrawn.

I agree that the safety and security of our troops is our top priority and paramount in this. I want to raise two issues that are of secondary importance but are still important. The first is the logistical situation. Can the Tánaiste provide reassurance to the House that our troops have adequate supplies of water and food to sit this event out? Second, there is a planned, scheduled rotation in around five or six weeks' time where some 300 fresh troops from Ireland will be heading out to relieve the 300 battle-hardened troops there now. Does the Tánaiste envisage that this rotation will occur as planned, pending the operational situation?

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I am in a position to report to the House that a statement will issue shortly from our Defence Forces, stating that all Irish troops in Lebanon are accounted for and well. This is a relief to us after the reports that had been circulating prior to this session of leader's questions starting. I also want to pay tribute to our soldiers in Lebanon and all of the peace-keepers in UNIFIL from 50 contributing countries, totalling some 10,000 in theatre, at the moment. They are doing the most noble activity of all, endeavouring to keep peace between warring parties. Our soldiers are professional, resilient and operating in a very challenging environment. I thank their families and loved ones who, far from the field, are understandably extremely anxious about the situation. We owe them a very significant degree of gratitude for their resilience in holding up in what is a very worrying time for them.

Regarding the mandate, both Israel and Lebanon sought the intervention of UNIFIL. There is a need in any post-war scenario that the mandate be respected by both sides in the future. The fulfilment of the mandate has to be an unrestricted one. The Deputy is correct to say that there have been imperfections, not so much in UNIFIL really because it is a chapter 6 mission. There are limitations to chapter 6 missions which are peace-keeping missions. Hezbollah has built up activity over the past year. It has fired about 10,000 rockets into Israel. That is a breach of UN Security Resolution 1701. Israel's incursion into Lebanon is a breach. The Deputy is correct. Our troops are there as the eyes and ears of the world-----

It is not an incursion; it is an invasion.

-----to bear witness to what is happening and potentially, if diplomacy can triumph and get the war stopped, then UNIFIL could play a significant role in the restoration of peace. The Deputy raised some very important hypothetical questions about if a similar force had been in place in Gaza. There are no guarantees and we cannot be certain about any particular outcomes but already the Arab peace initiative envisages an international security presence as the optimal way of creating a post-war situation in Gaza that might have some substance in terms of dealing with Israeli security while also allowing the Palestinian Authority or others to run Gaza for the benefit of the Palestinians living there.

I will come back in on the issue of troop rotation.

I thank the Tánaiste for his response. I want to be associated with the views expressed by Deputy Ivana Bacik and her utter condemnation of the Israeli attacks on the three UN posts this morning. This was completely unacceptable.

When this last occurred in 2006, when there was a major escalation on the Lebanese-Israeli border, there was a negotiated solution after about five weeks. I encourage all parties to follow a similar pathway. The sooner that happens, the better. Perhaps the Tánaiste would like to use the last few moments to address logistics and to give us any assurance he can as regards the scheduled rotation in a few weeks' time.

I spent two to two and a half hours on Sunday morning listening to numerous presentations from our military leaders, the Chief of Staff, the deputy chief of staff and the director of operations, and the Defence Forces have advised that, despite recent media reports, there is both fresh food and contingency food packs available, certainly at UN position 2-45. The outpost has about 20 days' worth of food and water supplies because our Defence Forces leadership sensibly sent out forward supplies in August in anticipation of challenges ahead and altogether independent of the UN. We have provided those supplies, which have given us a buffer.

On the rotation, as the Deputy will know, the handover from the 124th UNIFIL battalion to the 125th battalion was to occur in two chalks on 13-14 November and 24-25 November. However, in light of the recent changes to the security environment, the UNIFIL force commander has decided to suspend rotations for October for safety reasons. He will review the situation at the end of the month. Planning continues for the November rotation. It is under active review, pending any UN direction in this regard. Engagement continues with all key stakeholders, including with the IDF, as regards the protection of Irish troops. As the Deputy will know from his experience, there are a range of channels as regards stopping fire to protect soldiers in what is a very challenging environment.