Sir Keir Starmer used the first anniversary of Hamas’s barbaric terrorist attack on Israel to urge the international community to turn its focus on the “malign” regime in Iran.
In a carefully crafted statement in the Commons to commemorate the 7 October atrocity, which sparked war in the Middle East, Sir Keir’s message to MPs was that the ayatollahs who rule Iran must be held to account and forced to take responsibility for the humanitarian crisis unfolding in the region.
He said his government “will never stop selling weapons to Israel”, despite calls from French president Emmanuel Macron for a full arms embargo.
His words came as Sir Keir resisted calls to distance himself from Israel after its prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu opened up a new front in the north against the Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorists in southern Lebanon.
And he appeared to echo Mr Netanyahu’s claim of a ring of fire surrounding Israel with Iran and its terrorist-backed groups also including the Houthis in Yemen.
The statement came on a solemn occasion as Israel, the UK and much of the rest of the world remembered the horrific attack by Hamas 12 months ago.
Protesters calling for the Israeli government to do more to get the remaining 101 hostages returned sounded a haunting siren at 6.29am, the time at which the terrorist attacks began.
The day itself saw 1,205 people killed and 251 hostages taken, according to Israel’s official figures.
It ushered in a war in the Middle East which Israel is now fighting on fronts in Gaza, Syria, and Lebanon, as well as sustaining attacks from Iran and the Houthis in Yemen.
The prime minister’s statement and update on the crisis to the House followed a series of memorial events, including a visit by foreign secretary David Lammy to a synagogue in his north London constituency.
In a statement to a hushed chamber, Sir Keir argued that the recent direct attack by Iran on Israel with more than 200 ballistic missiles underlined its “malign role” in the Middle East.
He said: “We support Israel’s right to defend herself against Iran’s aggression, in line with international law, because, let’s be very clear, this was not a defensive action by Iran, it was an act of aggression and a major escalation in response to the death of a terrorist leader.
“It exposes, once again, Iran’s malign role in the region: they helped equip Hamas for the seventh of October attacks, they armed Hezbollah, who launched a year-long barrage of rockets on northern Israel, forcing 60,000 Israelis to flee their homes, and they support the Houthis, who mount direct attacks on Israel and continue to attack international shipping.”
It was a point he was to reiterate when Labour backbencher Stella Creasy urged further restrictions in arms sales to Israel until its policy in the region had turned to “diplomacy and peace”.
The prime minister said: “We are absolutely working with our allies on de-escalating across the region. It does require Iran to take responsibility and to be held accountable for what it is doing, and that’s why it’s important, in my view, for the G7 to speak so powerfully, together with a coordinated and collaborative approach.”
Sir Keir has agreed to suspend 30 arms export licences to Israel due to concerns that international law is being breached.
But he told MPs in the Commons that his government was not withdrawing support from Israel as the conflict reaches a crucial stage, as he clashed with right-wing Tory MPs.
Tory MP Greg Smith had asked: “Some of the decisions he has taken has led to a feeling that this government has stepped back its support for Israel, not least in the restoration of the funding for UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East). Does the prime minister regret that and will he revisit that decision?”
In January, funding for the agency was halted by the UK following allegations that 12 staff members were involved in the 7 October attacks. Announcing the resumption of funding in July, Mr Lammy said the agency had strengthened its vetting process.
Conservative former minister Robert Jenrick told the Commons today there had been an “explosion of antisemitism” in the UK since the October 7 attacks in Israel, adding: “We have to root out those who despise our country and our values.
“What will the prime minister do to revoke visas, where appropriate, of those in the UK who are conducting themselves in this manner, to encourage the police to enforce our existing laws without fear or favour, and defer the ban and proscribe those organisations such as the IRGC [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps]?”
Sir Keir replied: “We are proud of the democratic right to protest in this country but supporting a proscribed terrorist group is unacceptable and we need to be very, very clear about that and give the police our full support in taking the action they need to take in relation to it, wherever it is in the United Kingdom.”
Former prime minister and outgoing Tory leader Rishi Sunak struck a more conciliatory note, agreeing with Sir Keir’s position on Iran.
He said: “It is right that this country continues to play its part in defending Israel against Iranian attacks but we should not forget the base cause of all these events: Iran’s refusal to accept Israel’s right to exist and its desire to destabilise the region through arming and funding its terrorist proxies: Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis.
“The current conflict in Lebanon is a result of Hezbollah’s determination to use this territory to launch rocket attacks on Israel. And let me be clear, Israel has a right to defend itself.
“It has a right to eliminate the leadership of Hezbollah and it has a right to restore security for its citizens, and this country should support Israel in pursuing these goals.”
But there was pressure in the Commons for the prime minister instead to turn his focus on Israel and end all weapons sales.
Sir Keir said: “If sales of weapons for defensive use by Israel were banned, that is a position that I could not countenance a year after 7 October. It is not a position I could countenance in the face of attacks by Iran.
“The whole House saw the number of missiles coming over into Israel only the other day, and the idea that we could say we support Israel’s right to defend herself, and at the same time deprive her of the means to do so, is so wholly inconsistent that it will never be my position.”
The prime minister was speaking in response to SNP MP Brendan O’Hara (Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber), who said: “While I welcome the prime minister’s call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, there is so much more he can do to bring that about.”