Israel’s overnight attacks on Iran, culminating in the death of Hamas political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, has once again shamefully set back hopes for a ceasefire in Gaza and pushes the region towards a wider conflict.
Haniyeh was in Tehran for the inauguration of Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian. As the highest-ranking political figure in Hamas, he was instrumental in negotiations trying to bring an end to Israel’s nine-month attack on Gaza, which has killed at least 39,000 Palestinians and injured tens of thousands more.
Israel has also stepped-up attacks on southern Lebanon and Beirut this week, following an attack on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Saturday. In April, an Israeli airstrike on Iran’s consulate in the Syrian capital Damascus killed 16 people. That bombing led to a retaliatory missile and drone strikes by Iran on the air base the Israeli attack was launched from. Iran has already said it will seek revenge for assassinating Haniyeh on their territory.
The rise in tensions comes just as Parliament entered its summer recess, with MPs not returning to business until September. The recess has allowed Foreign Secretary David Lammy to delay a decision on suspending arms sales to Israel, despite coming under pressure to do so following a recent international court of justice (ICJ) opinion that Israel’s settlement policies and occupation of Palestinian territories broke international law. Earlier this month, Lammy said that government officials were undertaking a “comprehensive review of Israel’s compliance with international humanitarian law,” indicating that an arms embargo was being considered – which could include parts for F-35 aircraft that have been used to drop bombs on Gaza.
This delay has been met with outrage and deep humanitarian concern, together with warnings of continuing devastating levels of killings in Gaza: new Oxfam figures estimate that at least 7,000 people will be either killed or injured by the Israeli military over the 33-day period Parliament is not in session.
CND General Secretary Kate Hudson said:
“By failing to impose an arms embargo despite mounting evidence of daily international law violations, Britain has given Israel the green light to continue to wreak havoc on Gaza – and the wider Middle East – with impunity. Where will things have escalated to by the time MPs are back in Parliament? Israel has no respect for international borders or law, and it uses the threat of its nuclear arsenal to act with impunity across the region. The British government needs to step up and comply with international law, ending arms sales to Israel. But it must also push hard in the UN for a nuclear weapons-free Middle East treaty to bring the threat of Israeli nuclear use to an end.”