ISRAEL’S TACTICS WILL ‘FUEL THE CONFLICT FOR ANOTHER 50 YEARS’, FORMER UK DEFENCE SECRETARY WARNS

Mon 18 December 2023:

The UK’s recently departed defence secretary has warned that Israel risks undermining its legal authority to defend itself by embarking on a “killing rage” against the Palestinian people.

Writing in The Sunday Telegraph, Ben Wallace, who stepped down as the top defence official in August, said Israel’s “original legal authority of self-defence is being undermined by its own actions”.

“Netanyahu’s mistake was to miss the [Hamas] attack in the first place,” Wallace wrote. “But if he thinks a killing rage will rectify matters, then he is very wrong. His methods will not solve this problem. In fact, I believe his tactics will fuel the conflict for another 50 years.”

Wallace’s comments come after UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron called for a “sustainable ceasefire” and warned that “too many civilians have been killed” in Gaza in a joint op-ed with his German counterpart in the Sunday Times.

He also criticised Israel’s new generation of “bull in a China shop” politicians for “crashing from one crisis to another”.

The UN security council is also due to vote on Monday on a resolution for a durable and sustainable cessation of hostilities. Cameron defined sustainable as one in which Hamas could not mount further attacks on Israel that threatened its security.

In his Telegraph article Wallace was less interested in the timing of a ceasefire than Israel’s tactics.

He wrote: “We are entering a dangerous period now where Israel’s original legal authority of self-defence is being undermined by its own actions. It is making the mistake of losing its moral authority alongside its legal one.

“I am sure that the shame Benjamin Netanyahu feels for not foreseeing the October 7 attacks is deep, especially for someone who presented himself as a security hawk and tough guy. But perhaps that shame is driving him to lose sight of the long term.

“If he thinks a killing rage will rectify matters, then he is very wrong. His methods will not solve the problem. In fact, I believe his tactics will fuel the conflict for another 50 years. His actions are radicalising Muslim youth across the globe.”

He urged Israel to be more patient and to cultivate moderate Palestinian voices.

International pressure on Israel has been growing over the scale of civilian casualties in Gaza. About 19,000 people have been killed in the course of the Israeli offensive, according to health officials in the Hamas-run territory, since the Hamas attack on Israel of 7 October, which killed 1,200 people.

At the weekend the UK foreign secretary, David Cameron, joined his German counterpart in calling for a “sustainable ceasefire” in the territory, adding that “too many civilians have been killed”.

Grant Shapps, the current defence secretary, said the approach would mean “hostages released, rockets stop flowing and there’s actually a political process in place to make sure that we get to the day after”.

The US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, is due to meet the Isreali prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the defence minister, Yoav Gallant, this week to discuss in detail when and how Israeli forces may carry out a new phase of fighting.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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