The following article is a comment piece from Stop The War Coalition
Israel’s series of overnight attacks on Lebanon were a dramatic and calculated attempt to spark a wider war in the Middle East by Netanyahu.
Netanyahu: dragging us all into war
The killing of Ismail Haniyeh in particular could not have been more provocative. Haniyeh was not just the political leader of Hamas, he was the lead Hamas figure in the negotiations for a ceasefire in Gaza taking place in Qatar and elsewhere.
Israel chose to kill Haniyeh in Iran rather than in Doha where he lived, quite deliberately throwing down a gauntlet to the Iranian regime. Amongst other things all the strikes were attacks on foreign sovereign territory, justifying responses in international law.
The level of provocation is only underlined by the fact that the killing of Haniyeh took place during the swearing in of recently elected Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian who has vowed to try to end the sanctions regime imposed by the US on the country.
If you are serious about a ceasefire, you don’t assassinate the people you are negotiating with. All this points to the fact that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, given carte Blanche by the Israeli cabinet as to how to respond to the recent attacks on the Golan Heights, is looking for a way to escalate his war.
Netanyahu’s last hope is to drag the US into a wider war with Lebanon or Iran. The attack on Tehran comes a few days after he received a standing ovation in the US Congress. The US have been deeply involved in developments since the attacks on the Golan Heights. It is almost inconceivable that it hadn’t discussed Israel’s plans.
The job of everyone who opposes a wider war in the region is to escalate our global struggle against the genocide in Gaza and Israel’s spiralling aggression.
Israel must be stopped
Britain is the main Western backer of US policy in the Middle East and a prime supporter of Israel. What happens here matters.
This Saturday’s national demonstration against Israel’s genocide in Gaza now also needs to be a massive show of strength against a wider war in the Middle East. Labour’s decision to reinstate funding for UNWRA and the abandonment of a proposal to block the ICC’s warrants against Netanyahu are victories for our movement. Now, we call on them to suspend all arms sales to the apartheid Israeli state. Let’s step up the pressure and do all we can to force their hand.
Make sure you’re there.
The forces fomenting endless war in the Middle East must feel the weight of opposition to their constant warmongering.
Join Stop The War Coalition here.
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