Keir Starmer has asserted that the UK “stands with Israel” after Iran attacked Israel following Israel’s incursion into Lebanon to attack Hezbollah targets. The Prime Minister also established Britain’s support of Israel’s “right to self-defence” and urged British nationals to leave Lebanon immediately, concerned that the “region is on the brink”. The leader of Hezbollah, Iran-backed Shia political party and militant group, was assassinated by Israel on September 27, following Israeli strikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut.
The death of Hassan Nasrallah has triggered what many fear will become a widespread and devastating war across the Middle East. Iran attacked Israel in retaliation, launching almost 200 ballistic missiles into the country. Most of the missiles were intercepted by Israel’s David’s Sling, a joint US-Israeli manufactured air defence system.
The Pentagon has said that two US Navy Destroyers, deployed in the Eastern Mediterranean, were part of the efforts to defend Israel, firing a dozen interceptors. However, it is not known whether they took down any of the missiles. Similarly, UK Defence Secretary John Healy said that British forces “played their part in attempts to prevent further escalation”.
It is understood that British military jets did not shoot down any Iranian missiles. With Israeli forces deep in Lebanon, many are reminded that it has been a year since the Hamas-led October 7 attacks on southern Israel, causing Israel to retaliate in what many call an ongoing genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. In December 2023, South Africa, supported by a number of countries, filed a case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the court of the United Nations, accusing Israel of genocidal conduct.
The ICJ, in January 2024, issued a preliminary ruling which found that the claims in South Africa’s filing were “plausible” and issued an order to Israel requiring that they take all measures within their power to prevent acts of genocide. South Africa’s President, Cyril Ramaphosa, has recently said that it intends to present new “detailed evidence” proving that Israel committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. In March 2024, Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian Territories, issued a report stating that there were “reasonable grounds” to believe that the threshold indicating the commission of acts of genocide had been met.
Ceremonies are being held across Israel to commemorate the first anniversary of October 7 and the killing of more than 1,100 Israelis in the Hamas-led attack. In Gaza, the Ministry of Health has said that since the beginning of the war, almost 42,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli attacks, with thousands more buried under rubble and threatened by illness. 90% of Gaza’s population has been displaced, some up to ten times.