Harun Nasrullah
British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly has, during a TV appearance, repeatedly refused to offer public support for Palestinians besieged in Gaza in the wake of Israel’s strikes on the region.
In a heated Sky interview conducted on October 10, when the death tally in Gaza reached nearly 690, presenter Kay Burley noted that both the Foreign Secretary and Prime Minister had tweeted “support for Israel several times in the last 24 hours. Nothing about those suffering in Gaza.”
Cleverly replied that the British government is “working with the international community and the countries in the region to try and minimise the risk of escalation.”
He also gave support for Israel’s right to a “proportionate response” to self-defence following the wave of attacks from Hamas, which have left more than 1,200 Israelis dead.
But Burley told him, “It’s not quite answering my question. You could take this opportunity to offer public support to those people in Gaza that are under siege at the moment—no water, no electricity, no food.”
Cleverly replied, “Implicit in your question is this idea that somehow, if we say something about one country, we have to say something about another.
“They’re all human beings,” Burley interjected. The Foreign Secretary said, “Yes, I know, absolutely.
The truth is that the reason we express our solidarity with the people of Israel is because terrorists took action to murder and kidnap, and we’re now seeing reports that they are threatening to publicly execute people that they have kidnapped.
“The idea that somehow there is an equivalence between the actions of the Israeli government in their self-defence and the actions of Hamas is completely inappropriate.”
But Burley said, “I’m not saying that at all, foreign secretary. What about the people in Gaza who have no food, no electricity, and no water? Do you have a word for them?”
Cleverly said: “We want to minimise the loss of life, and the best way of doing that is for Israel to prevent Hamas from perpetrating terrorist activity like we’ve seen over the last few days.”
A day earlier, Rishi Sunak had also expressed wholehearted support for Israel, telling a congregation at the London synagogue on October 9 that there were “not two sides” in the war.
He said, “As the Prime Minister of this country, I am unequivocal. The people who support Hamas are fully responsible for this appalling attack.
“They are not militants… not freedom fighters. They are terrorists. Their barbaric acts are acts of evil. There is no other word to describe what we have seen.
“Teenagers at a festival of peace were gunned down in cold blood. Innocent men, women, and children were abducted, raped, and slaughtered; even a Holocaust survivor was taken away as a captive. And much of the sickening evidence was posted online.
“There are not two sides to these events. There is no question of balance.
“I stand with Israel. We stand with Israel. The United Kingdom stands with Israel against this terrorism today, tomorrow, and always.”
In another interview with BBC TV, Cleverly claimed that Hamas was preventing Gazans from leaving their homes in north Gaza.
Israel claimed on October 14 that “We have proof that Hamas is putting up roadblocks to prevent Palestinian civilians from evacuating from northern to southern Gaza. Hamas prides itself on putting civilians in harm’s way and is responsible for every civilian casualty.”
The Sky News team in Gaza “says they’ve seen no evidence of that,” tweeted Alistair Bunkall, Sky News Middle East Correspondent.
“I asked for the IDF surveillance footage that proves the Israeli claim 24 hours ago but have not received it yet,” he added.
The Foreign Secretary said to BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire on October 15 morning: “Hamas are trying to prevent people from leaving northern Gaza.”
