Foreign Secretary David Lammy meets with Prime Minister Netanyahu. 14/07/2024. Jerusalem, Israel. Picture by Ben Dance / FCDO
Israel’s series of overnight attacks were a dramatic and calculated attempt to spark a wider war in the Middle East, the Stop the War Coalition has warned.
The killing of Ismail Haniyeh, in particular, could not have been more provocative. Haniyeh was not just the political leader of Hamas, he was the lead Hamas figure in the negotiations for a ceasefire in Gaza taking place in Qatar and elsewhere.
StWC, one of the organisers of this Saturday’s national Palestine demonstration in London, called on foreign secretary David Lammy to condemn Israel’s actions and criticised the government for using the crisis in the region to delay its plans to cancel some arms sales to Israel.
StWC vice-chair Chris Nineham said:
“Israel’s series of overnight attacks in Iran, Lebanon and Iraq were a dramatic and calculated attempt to spark a wider war in the Middle East.
“Netanyahu claims they were in response to the deadly rocket attack on the Druze town Majdal Shams in the Israeli-occupied Golan heights, for which no one has claimed responsibility, but the killing of Haniyeh could not have been more provocative.
“He was not just the political leader of Hamas, he was the lead Hamas figure in the negotiations for a ceasefire in Gaza taking place in Qatar and elsewhere. If you are serious about ceasefire negotiations, you don’t assassinate the people you are negotiating with.
“Britain is the main Western backer of US policy in the Middle East and a prime supporter of Israel. What happens here matters. Our pro-Palestine movement has forced the new Starmer government to signal some changes over its stance on Israel, and it is time it condemned Netanyahu’s actions. But shockingly, it appears the foreign secretary is using this crisis to delay plans to cancel some arms sales to Israel.
“Saturday’s demonstration against Israel’s genocide in Gaza, the second since the general election, could not be happening at a more critical time, as Netanyahu tries to drag the US into a wider war with Lebanon and Iran. The march must also be a massive show of strength against a wider war in the Middle East.”
