Protesters in London calling for a permanent ceasefire and for the UK government to stop arming Israel are met by counter-protesters holding Israeli flags, 13 April 2024 (Reuters)
The UK government says there is “no legal requirement” to assess Israel’s compliance with international humanitarian law in its military conduct in Lebanon as part of its decision-making on licensing UK arms exports to Israel.
Middle East minister Hamish Falconer said on Monday that the suspension of 30 arms export licences to Israel last month means there are “no existing UK arms licences to Israel for use in Lebanon” apart from UK-made F-35 fighter jet components.
“So there is no legal requirement to assess [international humanitarian law] compliance,” Falconer said in response to a written question from Labour MP Abtisam Mohamed.
Arms control experts and human rights advocates were surprised by the admission which several said appeared to show that the government had decided to forgo international law.
“Under its legal obligations, the UK government cannot refuse to do IHL assessments for any of its arms export licences,” Martin Butcher, policy adviser on arms and conflict for Oxfam told Middle East Eye.
UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy says that UK is suspeding 30 of 350 arms licences to Israel. He also confirms the UK government’s support for Israel’s Gaza genocide.Vote For Genocide Vote Labour.
Destroyed buildings at a commercial street that was hit Saturday night by Israeli airstrikes, are seen in Nabatiyeh town, south Lebanon, October 13, 2024
ISRAELI Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanded today that the United Nations remove its peacekeepers from Lebanon’s “danger zone.”
He told UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres: “Your refusal to evacuate the Unifil soldiers makes them hostages of Hezbollah.
“Mr secretary-general, get the Unifil forces out of harm’s way. It should be done right now, immediately.”
Israeli forces have been responsible for wounding five UN peacekeepers since Thursday.
Mr Netanyahu’s demand came after 40 countries with troops in Unifil demanded security guarantees for the peacekeepers.
The UN Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) has been operating since 1978, when it was deployed following an invasion by Israel.
The forces currently has more than 10,000 soldiers from 50 countries and around 800 civilian staff.
Their role is to maintain calm and reduce tensions along the “blue line” dividing Lebanon from Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
March for Palestine in LeedsPhoto: Neil Terry Photography
PROTESTS for Palestine saw thousands of people take to the streets again on Saturday as Israel continued its brutal violence against the people of Gaza.
In London, Glasgow, Leeds, Manchester and other major centres, protesters demanded a ceasefire and an end to Britain’s arms sales to Israel.
Manchester Palestine supporters marched in their 54th consecutive weekly protest since Israel launched its genocidal revenge on the people of Gaza after the Hamas attack on southern Israel in October last year.
Among the placards and Palestinian flags carried by marchers was the flag of Lebanon — Israel’s recent ongoing invasion of Lebanon and its bombing of targets in Beirut and other populated centres have killed more than 2,000 people.
U.S. Defense Department spokesperson Pat Ryder holds a press conference at the Pentagon on September 12, 2024. (Photo: Celal Gunes/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“Netanyahu is as close as he has ever been to his ultimate wish: making the U.S. fight Iran on Israel’s behalf,” wrote one journalist.
The Pentagon confirmed Sunday that it has authorized the deployment of an advanced antimissile system and around 100 U.S. troops to Israel as the Netanyahu government prepares to attack Iran—a move that’s expected to provoke an Iranian response.
Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, press secretary for the U.S. Defense Department, said in a statement that at President Joe Biden’s direction, the Pentagon approved the “deployment of a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery and associated crew of U.S. military personnel to Israel to help bolster Israel’s air defenses” in the wake of Iran’s ballistic missile attack earlier this month.
“The THAAD Battery will augment Israel’s integrated air defense system,” said Ryder. “This action underscores the United States’ ironclad commitment to the defense of Israel, and to defend Americans in Israel, from any further ballistic missile attacks by Iran.”
The Pentagon’s statement came shortly after The Wall Street Journal and other outlets reported on the Biden administration’s plans.
It is not clear when the U.S. troops are set to arrive in Israel. The U.S. currently has some 40,000 soldiers stationed across the Middle East.
“We risk becoming entangled in another catastrophic war that will inevitably harm innocent civilians and may cost billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars.”
Iran fired roughly 200 ballistic missiles at Israel on October 1 in response to the assassinations of Hezbollah’s leader and Hamas’ political chief. Most of the Iranian missiles were shot down with the help of the U.S., whose Navy fired interceptors at the missiles.
Journalist Séamus Malekafzali argued the U.S. deployment of troops and the THAAD system shows that “the Israelis are clearly planning something for Iran that is going to cause a retaliation they know their own systems are unable to take.”
“U.S. troops being deployed to Israel in this matter is seismic,” Malekafzali added. “The U.S. military is now inextricably involved in this war, directly, without any illusions of barriers. Netanyahu is as close as he has ever been to his ultimate wish: making the U.S. fight Iran on Israel’s behalf.”
Israel’s cabinet met Thursday to discuss a potential response to Iran’s October 1 missile barrage. One unnamed Israeli source told The Times of Israel that “no big decisions” were made at the cabinet meeting. Speaking to reporters earlier this month, Biden said that U.S. and Israeli officials were “discussing” the possibility of an attack on Iranian oil infrastructure.
Iran has warned of a “crushing” response to any Israeli attack.
In a statement Sunday, progressive U.S. Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), James McGovern (D-Mass.), and Greg Casar (D-Texas) said that “military force will not solve the challenge posed by Iran.”
“We need meaningful de-escalation and diplomacy—not a wider war,” the lawmakers added. “Nothing in current law authorizes the United States to conduct offensive military action against Iran. We risk becoming entangled in another catastrophic war that will inevitably harm innocent civilians and may cost billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars.”
Rescue workers search for victims at the site of Thursday’s Israeli airstrike in Beirut, Lebanon, October 11, 2024
A NEW attack by Israeli forces on UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon received swift and widespread condemnation today.
The Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the attack had targeted a watchtower of a Sri Lankan battalion in Naqoura that is part of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil).
The day before, 22 people were killed and dozens wounded in the deadliest Israeli air strike on central Beirut so far.
Lebanon’s National News Agency reported today that artillery shelling from an Israeli Merkava tank had wounded some of the Sri Lankan soldiers.
Speaking at a news conference in Beirut, Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati described the attack as a “crime.”
UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres described Israel’s action as “intolerable” and said it “cannot be repeated.”
Zionist Keir Starmer is quoted “I support Zionism without qualification.” He’s asked whether that means that he supports Zionism under all circumstances, whatever Zionists do.
