Israel’s ambassador to Ireland has welcomed as heart-warming the solidarity demonstrations in Dublin.

A number of gatherings were held outside the embassy on Sunday.

It comes after the Irish parliament passed a motion describing Israeli settlements and other policies in the West Bank as “de facto annexation”.

Prayers were said for Israel during a gathering by the Evangelical Catholic Initiative before a solidarity rally organised by the Irish Israeli Alliance took place.

Former government minister Alan Shatter was among those who attended the second event.

Ambassador Ophir Kariv welcomed the expressions of support for his nation.

“It was heart-warming to see the show of support. It was really encouraging to see Irish people from all parts of Ireland getting together to show their support to Israel. It was important,” he told the PA news agency.

Mr Kariv said they continue to talk to the Irish Government on policy issues.

“In the Irish public there are different opinions and different views, and what we saw today was the reflection of some of them,” he said.

“We don’t accept the latest remarks in parliament, and we don’t think it is very constructive, but we have open communications and good working relations with the Irish Foreign Ministry. We exchange our views in the relevant and acceptable diplomatic channels.”

Asked about the current situation in Israel, the ambassador said: “Things are calming down, there is a ceasefire in Gaza and everything has been quiet in the last days.

“We hope we the ceasefire will be a long lasting one, and we are talking to our partners in the international community about how to try and help rebuild healthcare and reconstruction efforts, and alleviating the humanitarian situation in Gaza, but at the same time preventing any aid or resources getting into the hands of Hamas because Hamas has been using a large part of resources in order to build the terrorist infrastructure.”