UK must not look away from Gaza genocide, Amnesty warns
As strikes between Israel and Iran continued for a third day after being sparked by Israel's surprise attack on Friday, Palestinians said Israeli forces opened fire at around dawn towards crowds of people heading to two aid sites in Rafah, killing eight and injuring dozens.
Israel's blockade and military campaign have caused widespread hunger and raised the risk of famine in the country. Now, Israel is reportedly set to pursue the military campaign for "weeks, not days," according to multiple Israeli and US sources.
READ MORE: 'It's a trap': 8 killed by Israeli soldiers in shooting at Gaza aid site
Sacha Deshmukh, the chief executive of Amnesty International UK, said it was "crucial" that Keir Starmer's government "do not get distracted" by the escalating tensions from the reality in Gaza.
Deshmukh said: 'It is crucial that Israel's attacks on Iran do not distract the UK Government from action it must take to stop Israel's ongoing genocide against Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip, rampant state-backed settler attacks in the West Bank, and Israel's cruel system of apartheid.
"These violations demand that States, including the UK, focus immediately on the urgent need for a sustained ceasefire in Gaza and fast-track their diplomatic efforts to help end Israel's decades-long illegal occupation.'
Israeli officials have claimed the country's initial strikes were an act of self-defence and argued Iran had rejected diplomatic efforts to ease tensions.
Israel said the barrage was necessary before Iran got any closer to building a nuclear weapon, although experts and the US government have assessed that Tehran was not actively working on such a weapon.
Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said on Sunday that if the Israeli strikes on Iran stop, then 'our responses will also stop'.
First Minister John Swinney also urged the UK Government to "de-escalate" the "dangerous situation".
READ MORE: UK Foreign Office advises against all travel to Israel as Iran strikes escalate
Swinney said: 'The situation in Gaza and the wider Middle East is deeply concerning. The international community - including the UK Government - must do all it can to de-escalate this dangerous situation.
"Further escalation will result in even greater devastation and stability across the region is of paramount importance to us all.'
Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie said that Israel's attacks were "a clear attempt to escalate the conflict and provoke a much wider war" in the region, and accused the Israeli government of "flooding the media with images of their own choosing, while blocking media access to Gaza to prevent the world from seeing the atrocities they are committing".
'Even a former Israeli Prime Minister has called Netanyahu's government a gang of thugs, and every day they find new ways to prove him right," Harvie said.
'The UK should immediately withdraw all support for this violent rogue state, and work with other countries to have them held accountable for their war crimes.'
Harvie added: 'The Scottish Greens have long called for a lasting ceasefire and an end to the UK's active participation in the ongoing genocide of Gaza. Keir Starmer must end the UK's involvement in conflict rising between the state of Israel and other nations.'
"Israel's declaration of war on Iran is intended to bring war to the entire Middle East," national convenor of the Stop the War Coalition Lindsey German told The National.
"Netanyahu is already bombing five countries and we can only assume those conflicts will escalate. None of this would be possible without the support of the British and US governments.
"We've been demanding for months that the UK stops arming Israel, stops the genocide, stops using the Akrotiri RAF base to attack Gaza. Now Starmer's sending jets to the region, clearly prepared to support and enable further war crimes, without so much as putting it to a vote in Parliament.
"It's absolutely abhorrent and removes any prospect of the de-escalation he so weakly called for."
READ MORE: David Pratt: A perilous 'game' – Israel attacks, Iran bleeds, and America plays God
Asked whether the UK would come to Israel's aid if asked, the Chancellor Rachel Reeves told Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips: 'We have, in the past, supported Israel when there have been missiles coming in.
'I'm not going to comment on what might happen in the future, but so far, we haven't been involved, and we're sending in assets to both protect ourselves and also potentially to support our allies.'
Pushed again on whether the UK would deploy assets in support of Israel if asked, she said: 'What we've done in the past (…) is help protect Israel from incoming strikes.
'So a defensive activity.'
She added: 'I'm not going to rule anything out at this stage (…) it's a fast moving situation, a very volatile situation.'
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