The IDF has confirmed suspicions that its mortar strike on a group of terrorists in Gaza killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. DNA and fingerprint checks have been conducted…
Sinwar has been leader of Hamas in Gaza since 2017. Another step towards total victory…
The Commons has returned now that the three-week conference recess is over. Starmer is up to talk about his recent trips abroad and the Middle East one year on from Hamas’ attack on Israel.
97 hostages still remain in Hamas’ tunnels.
Most of the 182 Iranian missiles were captured by air defence systems aided by the US and the UK. Keir Starmer condemned Iran. The exact details of the UK’s involvement have been kept secret for now…
No injuries have been reported in Israel while one man was killed in the West Bank. An hour and a half after Iran fired its missiles the BBC had managed to find a KCL professor who, suprise surprise, said Hezbollah and Iran were “rational and cautious”:
“The international community has to make sure that whatever Israel does is not upending the regional order as we know it, and the US has a responsibility. So we’ve been in this cause for 12 months now of constantly red lines being crossed, mostly by the Israelis. Hezbollah and Iran have played fairly rationally trying to always try to be very cautious in how they respond, trying to leave off ramps where they could – the Netanyahu government has kind of lost the opportunity at every junction to use an offramp that was given to them.”
Meanwhile Tory leadership hopefuls have come out with statements overnight. Jenrick said: “There can be no more appeasement. We must stand shoulder to shoulder with Israel, our ally, just as we have with Ukraine. All the support necessary to win this war must be given to Israel so they can defeat the evil Iranian regime.”
Cleverly said: “What we are seeing this evening in Israel is an attack on an ally. It is being attacked by a country that wants to wipe it off the map. In April, the UK and its allies defended Israel. The UK Government must do the same now. We must stand with Israel.”
Tugendhat said: “The world must unite in condemning this heinous act of state terrorism. This is just the latest action from a regime that, for the past 45 years, has murdered its own citizens and hundreds of thousands of Muslims in Syria and Yemen.”
Putting up a united position. The BBC’s ability to front “different” analysis never ceases to amaze…
Three London Labour MPs have written to David Lammy to express their concerns over this week’s decision to suspend a raft of arms export licences to Israel. Solicitor General Sarah Sackman, David Pinto-Duschinsky, and Dan Tomlinson say that their constituents have “expressed deep concern and upset about Monday’s decision.” To put it mildly…
They summarise concerns well:
- The timing of the announcement “shortly after the murder of six hostages by Hamas terrorists. There was particular anger that the announcement itself coincided with the funeral of one of the hostages.“
- “The message that the decision sends to Israel’s enemies, including Hamas, Iran and Iran’s proxies,” including the potential to “adversely affect the security and safety of Israel and its people.”
- The effect of the decision on “Britain’s longstanding relationship with Israel as an ally” and Britain’s “perceived trustworthiness among its allies on the international stage.” Which is diminished…
It’s quite a thing to have the Solicitor General, a minister and senior Law Officer, criticise a policy the government defends on a purely legal basis. The MPs ask for a response from Lammy which they can circulate to constituents. Labour’s justifications since Monday clearly aren’t holding water with them…
Read the full letter below:
David Lammy has just announced that 30 out of 350 arms export licences to Israel will be suspended by the government. This is after an initial review claims that there may have been breaches of international humanitarian law. Helicopters, aircraft and drones are expected to be affected. Lammy is quick to claim this isn’t a “blanket ban” or a full embargo, but it will surely affect Israeli operations in the wake of the October 7th attack…
There’s more than a little outrage this morning as Sky News and the BBC deploy their usual questionable reporting on killed Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. In Sky correspondent Alex Crawford’s analysis she said he was “a very moderate leader“. Moderate in an antisemitic Islamofascist kind of way presumably…
The BBC calls now-dead Haniyeh “moderate and pragmatic” while Reuters describes Haniyeh’s “tough talking“. The thousands of victims of Hamas were not on the receiving end of moderate pragmatism…
