An Israeli soldier carries a shell next to a tank in northern Israel, September 27, 2024
ISRAEL’S illegal and unprovoked bombing of Iran, killing military leaders, scientists and numerous other civilians, puts us on the brink of catastrophic conflict.
An attack on this scale would be treated as an act of war by any country. Nor is the Israeli strike a one-off: besides its long record of murdering scientists and bombing diplomatic premises, its strikes on Iranian territory are ongoing, with the overnight bombing of Tehran being followed up by daytime strikes on Tabriz, Shiraz and other cities.
The British government’s calls for restraint are grossly inadequate. The aggressor is Israel and its conduct puts us all at risk. Its attack on Iran must not just be unequivocally condemned: the already overwhelming case for a halt to military co-operation and arms supplies has become more urgent.
Its formal excuse for attacking Iran is illegitimate. Suspicion that Iran might be close to developing nuclear weapons is not grounds for attacking it. Only an imperialist mindset can hold the possession of such weapons by some states acceptable and by others not: and Iran has nothing like Israel’s record of routine attacks on its neighbours. The dangerous and destabilising power in the Middle East is Israel. Besides, those in Iran who say nuclear weapons are their only safeguard against attack will be strengthened today.
Could we be drawn in? Easily. Britain is already directly involved in Israel’s wars. It has bombed Yemen and conducted intelligence-sharing RAF flights over Gaza. It supplies a military committing genocide. It is not illogical for actors in the region to see Israeli allies like Britain and the US as directly culpable for its actions, especially given US President Donald Trump’s hints he is behind the attack.
Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpAUK Labour Party government ministers Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves explain that they are partners complicit in Israel’s Gaza genocide. The UK has provided Israel with arms, military and air force support. They explain that they don’t do gas chambers but do do forced marches, starvation, destroy hospitals, mass-murders of journalists and healthcare workers.
UK Labour Party government ministers Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves explain that they are partners complicit in Israel’s Gaza genocide. The UK has provided Israel with arms, military and air force support. They explain that they don’t do gas chambers but do do forced marches, starvation, destroy hospitals, mass-murders of journalists and healthcare workers.
There’s a story very recently published on the BBC about UK sending military jets to the Middle-East. Keir Starmer is quoted stating that these military jets are being sent to de-escalate the situation. Is he on a different planet? Can somebody please ask him how military jets can de-escalate a conflict?
He’s taking us for fools. We know very well that these jets are going to support Israel. Keir “I support Zionism without qualification” Starmer is a total genocide-supporting mass-murdering total cnut. So, UK is going to support Israel in an illegal war after supporting Israel’s Gaza genocide from the outset.
An Israeli soldier points his weapon during a military raid in the West Bank city of Nablus, June 10, 2025
THE MINISTRY of Defence has admitted that Israeli troops are currently being trained in Britain as the government is accused of “active participation” in the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.
Armed forces minister Luke Pollard responded to a parliamentary question from Rachael Maskell MP by saying that Britain is “currently training” Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) personnel on “UK-based training courses.”
Mr Pollard said the training was one part of a “routine defence engagement” with Israel.
His response followed investigations into the British army’s training of Israeli personnel by media outlet Declassified.
Labour MP Richard Burgon, who chairs the Socialist Campaign Group of MPs, told the Morning Star the admission was “truly sickening, especially given the genocide being carried out in Gaza.
“It’s also a flagrant violation of international law. The International Court of Justice has been totally clear that all states must stop any co-operation that aids Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine.
“Britain has a moral and legal duty to immediately end all arms sales and military co-operation with Israel.”
The Scottish Greens also hit back at the government’s admission, saying Britain’s role in the Gaza war “goes beyond complicity.”
Party co-leader Patrick Harvie MSP said: “This is nothing short of disgraceful. This goes beyond complicity — it is direct, active participation in the genocide of the Palestinian people.
“The UK is actively training members of the Israeli military while they carry out a brutal assault on Gaza.
“Every bomb dropped, every home destroyed, every child killed is a crime that the UK government is now tied to.
“Training soldiers who are part of these atrocities is a betrayal of every principle of human rights and international law. It must stop now.”
Palestine Solidarity Campaign deputy director Peter Leary said the “disgraceful” revelation highlights the total inadequacy of the government’s actions.
“On Tuesday, Britain announced long-overdue sanctions against two Israeli ministers but continues to supply weapons to a regime that is perpetrating well-documented war crimes and crimes against humanity.
“We need much more than just a change of rhetoric and blocks on two ministers’ bank accounts.
“We need a full arms embargo, wide-ranging sanctions on the Israeli state, and a complete end to all military co-operation now.”
In a statement to the Morning Star, a spokeswoman from the Stop The War Coalition said: “That Britain is actively involved in training a foreign military currently engaged in genocide comes as little surprise given Labour ministers have been actively enabling the brutality of the IDF throughout.
“The political rhetoric may be starting to shift as Keir Starmer, David Lammy and the rest try to realign their government’s support for Israel’s war on Gaza in an attempt to placate public opposition.
“But it’s clearer than ever just how deep their collaboration with and enabling of war crimes goes.”
UK Foreign Minister David Lammy confirms that UK government and military are active participants in Israel’s genocides and that the F-35 parts that they suspended from supplying to Israel are instead simply diverted via the United States. He says see https://youtu.be/QILgUHrdWREGenocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpAUK Labour Party government ministers Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves explain that they are partners complicit in Israel’s Gaza genocide. The UK has provided Israel with arms, military and air force support. They explain that they don’t do gas chambers but do do forced marches, starvation, destroy hospitals, mass-murders of journalists and healthcare workers.
Rescue workers comb through the ruins of a residential building bombed by Israel on June 13, 2025 in Tehran, Iran. (Photo: Majid Saeedi/Getty Images)
“Trump must act immediately to suspend all military support to Israel and stop allowing U.S. arms to fuel war crimes, mass civilian death, and regional collapse,” said one critic.
Progressive U.S. lawmakers and human rights defenders demanded an end to unconditional American armed and diplomatic support for Israel after it launched a series of attacks on Iran early Friday, reportedly killing senior military officials and civilians including nuclear scientists, women, and children in a dramatic escalation that Iranian leaders vowed to avenge.
Israeli forces carried out at least five waves of airstrikes targeting not only Iran’s nuclear facilities but also its military leadership and capabilities, Al Jazeera reported. In addition to airstrikes, Israeli and international media reported that operatives from Mossad, Israel’s foreign spy agency, also conducted assassination and sabotage attacks in Iran.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claimed that Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Commander-in-Chief Major Gen. Hossein Salami and Iranian Armed Forces Chief of Staff Major Gen. Mohammad Bagheri were assassinated, as were numerous Iranian nuclear scientists.
Israel is bombing and killing civilians across Iran
These are all apartment buildings where ordinary people lived in Tehran
IDF attacks targeted cities including the capital Tehran, Natanz, Isfahan, Arak, Tabriz, and Kermanshah. Iranian television reports showed bombed-out apartment towers and said that an unknown number of civilians including women and children were killed in the strikes.
The attack on Natanz—home to Iran’s primary nuclear enrichment facility—sparked fears of radiological contamination.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the attack—dubbed Operation Rising Lion—a “preemptive strike,” a dubious form of warfare previously waged by forces including imperial Japan during the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the George W. Bush administration in Iraq.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog said the attacks were meant to “neutralize an immediate and existential threat to our people,” an apparent reference to Iran’s nuclear program. Successive U.S. administrations including President Donald Trump’s have concluded for decades that Iran is not trying to develop nuclear weapons.
During his first term, Trump unilaterally abrogated the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, also known as the Iran nuclear deal.
Last year, Israel and Iran carried out limited tit-for-tat attacks following the former’s assassination of Hassan Nasrallah, who led the Lebanon-based resistance group Hezbollah, and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.
This time, Iranian leaders vowed “severe punishment,” with fears that the U.S. could be targeted due to its staunch support for Israel as it wages what the international community increasingly views as a genocidal war on Gaza. While U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio claimed that his country was not involved in the attacks, Israeli officials insisted there was close coordination with the Trump administration.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said Friday that “in the early hours of today, the Zionist regime extended its filthy and bloodstained hand to commit a crime in our beloved country, exposing its vile nature more than ever by targeting residential areas.”
“With this crime, the Zionist regime has prepared a bitter and painful fate for itself—and it will undoubtedly face it,” Khamenei added.
As the world braced for Iran’s response to the attacks, U.S. progressives called for a diplomatic solution and an end to American support for Israel.
“The Israeli government bombing Iran is a dangerous escalation that could lead to regional war,” Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) said on social media.
Tlaib asserted that Netanyahu, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza and is facing a domestic criminal corruption trial, “will do anything to maintain his grip on power.”
“We cannot let him drag our country into a war with Iran,” she added. “Our government must stop funding and supporting this rogue genocidal regime.”
Referring to negotiations on a new Iran nuclear deal, Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) said: “Just as talks with Iran were set to resume, Netanyahu launches a strike and declares a state of emergency. He is provoking a war Americans don’t want.”
“We should not allow ourselves to be dragged into yet another conflict, against our will, by a foreign leader pursuing his own agenda of death and destruction,” Omar added.
The U.S.-based peace group CodePink—some of whose members held an emergency protest outside the White House in Washington, D.C.—said that it “strongly condemn[s] Israel’s unprovoked and reckless attack on Iran, which risks igniting a catastrophic regional war.”
NOW: We're protesting outside the White House to say NO WAR WITH IRAN!
Israel says these are "preemptive strikes," but the only thing they are preempting is a peaceful dialogue between the United States and Iran to come to a nuclear deal.
“This dangerous escalation threatens millions of lives across the entire Middle East,” the group added. “The U.S. must not continue to support and enable this illegal act of aggression.”
CodePink co-founder Medea Benjamin said: “It’s horrific that Israel is bombing yet another country. And Trump calls himself a peace president? He knew this was coming and stood by. This is entirely out of step with the will of the American people.”
“The whole world is desperate for peace in the Middle East, and instead, Israel decides to move the region closer to World War III,” Benjamin added.
Noting that nuclear talks with Iran were set to resume this weekend, the National Iranian American Council (NIAC) said that “this is an attack on peace and diplomacy.”
“Israeli political officials have demonstrated that U.S. diplomacy and a peaceful resolution with Iran is what they consider to be the true threats,” NIAC asserted.
“This much is clear: This is a war of choice, and an illegal and unprovoked attack,” NIAC added. “Trump must weigh in to stop this conflict before it spirals out of control, and to preserve the chance of maintaining diplomatic offramps.”
Israel, the only country in the Middle East with nuclear weapons which is currently committing a genocide against Palestinians, is bombing Iran to start a war and sabotage U.S.-Iran diplomacy.
Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man, Israel-Palestine director at the advocacy group Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), contended that “Israel deciding to launch a war against Iran at the very same time it faces unprecedented international isolation and pressure over its genocide in Gaza is a nightmarish outcome of impunity.”
DAWN executive director Sarah Leah Whitson said that “Israel has committed an unlawful, unprovoked attack on Iran to undermine the growing global efforts to sanction it for its illegal occupation and to disrupt Trump’s efforts to independently pursue America’s interests via diplomacy.”
Nihad Awad, national executive director at the Council on American Islamic Relations, issued the following statement:
We condemn Israel’s offensive strike on Iran and the broader pattern of aggression it represents. Netanyahu is using American weapons and taxpayer dollars to launch illegal and destabilizing wars across the region. President Trump must act immediately to suspend all military support to Israel and stop allowing U.S. arms to fuel war crimes, mass civilian death, and regional collapse. Secretary Rubio’s statement confirms what we already knew—Israel is acting recklessly, and the U.S. is letting it happen.
CodePink noted that “in the past month and a half alone, Israel has bombed Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, and Iran.”
“There is no other choice,” the group added, “ARMS EMBARGO NOW!”
Pro-Palestinian activists wave Palestinian flags and keffiyehs from open bus windows as they, along with around 1,000 other participants in the Sumud or “Resilience” Convoy, depart from Tunis, Tunisia, on June 9, 2025. (Photo: Chedly Ben Ibrahim/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
“A tsunami of humanity is rising for Gaza.”
As Israeli forces unlawfully boarded the Madleen, a boat carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza, and detained the volunteers on the vessel on Monday, approximately 1,000 pro-Palestinian advocates from across Northwest Africa were boarding a convoy of buses and cars in Tunisia—planning to travel for days to the Rafah crossing, where they aim to break Israel’s blockade that’s starving people across the war-torn enclave.
The Sumud Convoy, whose name means “steadfastness” or “resilience” in Arabic, is carrying aid and being led by the Coordination of Joint Action for Palestine in Tunisia, and has ties to the Global March for Gaza, which includes rights advocates from about 50 countries across the world who were en route to Cairo on Wednesday.
“This is a civil and popular initiative in response to the ongoing genocide in Gaza,” Wael Naouar, a member of the organizing team, told The New Arab. “We refuse to remain silent.”
The convoy crossed into Libya on Tuesday and has been resting after a full day of travel as organizers wait for permission to cross the eastern part of the divided country.
In Tripoli in the western region, the volunteers have been welcomed by hundreds of locals, and fuel station owners have reportedly said they will provide free gas to all cars, buses, and trucks that join the convoy.
Thousands of North African volunteers launched a mass land convoy toward Gaza, aiming to break the Israeli blockade through Egypt. pic.twitter.com/OLuX7iZzh4
Along with the current delay in receiving approval from eastern Libyan authorities to cross the region, the convoy and the Global March for Gaza could face resistance from the Egyptian government as organizers plan to march for three days from El Arish in the Sinai Peninsula to the Rafah crossing.
Egypt classifies the area between El Arish and Rafah as a military zone and has not released a statement on whether it will allow the march.
If the volunteers make it to the Rafah crossing, they will have to contend with the Israel Defense Forces. In addition to abducting international activists including Swedish climate leader Greta Thunberg and Palestinian-French member of European Parliament Rima Hassan this week, Israeli forces killed 10 activists carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza on a Turkish flotilla in 2010.
Ghaya Ben Mbarek, an independent journalist from Tunis, told Al Jazeera that people in the convoy “are feeling courage and anger” as they head toward the Gaza border.
“The message people here want to send to the world is that even if you stop us by sea, or air, then we will come, by the thousands, by land,” Ben Mbarek told Al Jazeera. “We will literally cross deserts… to stop people from dying from hunger.”
Fadi Quran of the U.S.-based advocacy group Avaaz said the journey of the convoy—which has been growing as more people have joined since leaving Tunisia—is “one of the most beautiful things humanity has to offer in 2025.”
“A tsunami of humanity is rising for Gaza,” said Quran. “Amplify it.”
If you’re not watching people across North Africa come out in droves to celebrate the convoy to break the siege, you’re missing out on one of the most beautiful things humanity has to offer in 2025.
The Sumud Convoy is supported by the Tunisian General Labor Union, the National Bar Association, the Tunisian League for Human Rights, and the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights, while groups including the Palestinian Youth Movement and CodePink are affiliated with the Global March for Gaza.
Advocates from countries including the Netherlands, Canada, and Ireland plan to arrive in Cairo on Thursday, when they hope to begin the three-day march to Rafah.
Canadian Sen. Yuen Pau Woo wrote to the Egyptian government on Tuesday, asking for support for the march.
“I believe that Egypt’s support for this humanitarian action would send a powerful message to the international community,” said Woo.
Kellie McConnell, a member of Irish Healthcare Workers for Palestine, also expressed hope that the international action will force governments around the world, including those that have backed Israel’s bombardment and blockade of Gaza, to “pay attention and do everything in their power” to end the attacks that have killed more than 55,000 Palestinians.
“We can turn the tables in this genocide,” said McConnell. “We can stop the absolutely appalling brutalization and desperate treatment of people in Palestine.”
If the advocates are blocked at the border like the Madleen was intercepted on Monday, one activist in the Sumud Convoy told The New Arab, “even that will send a message.”
“People over power,” they said. “If they stop dozens, thousands will rise.”
Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpAUK Labour Party government ministers Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves explain that they are partners complicit in Israel’s Gaza genocide. The UK has provided Israel with arms, military and air force support. They explain that they don’t do gas chambers but do do forced marches, starvation, destroy hospitals, mass-murders of journalists and healthcare workers.Vote Labour for Genocide.
An Israeli soldier carries a shell next to a tank in northern Israel, September 27, 2024
