Eamon Ryan has called for an 'immediate and full ceasefire' in Gaza, after meetings with the Israeli and Palestinian Ambassadors to Ireland.
The Green Party leader also held talks with ambassadors from a number of other Arab states.
In a statement after the talks on Friday, he echoed calls for a ceasefire so that vital humanitarian aid can be delivered quickly to people in Gaza.
Minister Ryan also said a ceasefire would be an opportunity to negotiate the release of hostages and to allow foreign passport holders to leave.
Minister Ryan said Ireland would continue to work at an international level with its EU and US allies to ensure a full ceasefire, and to "concentrate minds on finding a just solution to the decades long crisis in the region".
“The most important thing now is that we have an immediate ceasefire," he said.
"Call it a humanitarian ceasefire if that makes it easier to accept, but one way or another we have to move beyond the notion of four-hour pauses, which mean that the remaining 20 hours of the day continue to be filled with death and destruction.
"The people, families, children in Gaza have suffered enough. This needs to stop now."
'You can’t kill a people by force'
Minister Ryan said the world also needs to think about the day after a ceasefire.
"That is the most important day because that has to be the beginning of the end, when the international community focuses on this decades long issue like never before to bring about a just solution for the Palestinian people and one that brings peace and stability for Israel and the region," he said.
"You can't kill a people by force, you can’t subjugate a people by fences, military orders and coercion.
"We are looking at the third generation of Palestinians in permanent refugee camps.
"What I heard today is that young people have little or no hope of change. That’s not acceptable.
"The only answer to this horrific crisis, which must be seen within the context of the past 75 years, is justice. Then there can be hope, then there can be a future," he added.
Al-Shifa Hospital
The meetings come as explosions were reported at or near several hospitals north of the Gaza Strip throughout the day.
The charity Médecins Sans Frontières said there needs to be protection and respect for medical structures.
It said it has received distress calls from the Al-Shifa Hospital, where medical staff fear for their lives.
It said there are hundreds of people inside the hospital, and those who wish to leave must be allowed to do so as quickly and safely as possible.
The United Nations Security Council met again on Friday to discuss the ongoing crisis.
Palestine Red Crescent Society Director-General Marwan Jilani told the Security Council he had to rewrite his statement several times as the situation is "changing by the minute."
People are getting shot at "as we speak", with 20 injured due to direct fire at the Al Quds Hospital in Gaza City, he said, with thousands under imminent threat of being killed.
He called on the UN body to demand an effective and immediate ceasefire, together with emergency aid for the north of Gaza.
Over 11,000 Palestinians have reportedly been killed in the one month of conflict, after Hamas launched an attack on Israel on October 7th killing more than 1,400 Israeli civilians and soldiers, and kidnapping more than 240.
