Declassified UK: Palestinians cease, and Israel fires

Palestinians cease, and Israel fires

In the words of the late Palestinian writer and poet Refaat Alareer, who was killed by an Israeli airstrike on 6 December 2023, “what usually happens in occupied Palestine is that Palestinians cease, and Israel fires”.

That’s precisely what happened last weekend, with the Israeli government resuming its genocidal bombing campaign in Gaza and killing over 400 Palestinians. An Australian medic described the scenes at the Baptist hospital in Gaza city, saying “it was just mostly women and children burned head to toe, limbs missing, heads missing”.

The reasons for Israel’s return to war were largely political. Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition would be vulnerable to collapse should the war be terminated, while the “security crisis” allowed the Israeli PM to avoid appearing in court over corruption charges.

Over in Britain, David Lammy had a rare moment of clarity in parliament this week when he finally acknowledged that Israel’s siege of Gaza was “in breach of international law”. Food, water, power and other essential items have been blocked from entering Gaza for over two weeks – war crimes for which Netanyahu is already wanted by the ICC.

But Downing Street was quick to rebuke Lammy. Keir Starmer’s spokesperson announced that Israel’s actions were only “at clear risk” of breaching international law, protecting the Israeli government from criticism even as it massacred hundreds of Palestinians.

The escalation in Gaza also coincided with a renewed US-UK military assault on Yemen. As Declassified revealed, the RAF provided aerial refuelling to US jets during the airstrikes last weekend, which were launched in retaliation for the Houthis’ blockade of Israel.

In a broader sense, however, the attack on Yemen was about Iran.

US national security advisor Mike Waltz told ABC on Sunday: “This was an overwhelming response that actually targeted multiple Houthi leaders and took them out. And the difference here is, one, going after the Houthi leadership, and two, holding Iran responsible”.

Donald Trump went even further, declaring: “Every shot by the Houthis will be looked upon… as being a shot fired from the weapons and leadership of IRAN, and IRAN will be responsible, and suffer the consequences, and those consequences will be dire!”.

The airstrikes on Yemen were not the only indicator of an escalation with Iran.

RAF Typhoons based in the Middle East escorted US Air Force B-52 bombers, which are nuclear capable, and dropped live munitions at ranges in “several partner nations” including Iran’s neighbour, Iraq.

The military exercises were largely ignored in Britain, but the message wasn’t lost on Iran.

Iranian state media declared unambiguously: “The US and its partner countries who cooperated in these two missions obviously had something to say andwhose intended message was meant for was as clear as day: The Islamic Republic of Iran”.

With an emboldened Trump in office and Starmer clinging onto the disintegrating ‘special relationship’, it seems possible that Israel could finally get what it has long wanted: Western support for a massive escalation with Iran.

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