[Melanie Phillips] I am in London where the air is not sweet.
The Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, accuses Israel of breaking international law by stopping aid from entering Gaza. This is untrue. Israel stopped the aid two weeks ago in order to weaken Hamas and force it finally to release the remaining Israeli hostages whom it kidnapped on October 7 2023. International law requires limited humanitarian aid for civilians, but only if no advantage will result "to the military efforts or economy of the enemy". Since Hamas has seized most of the aid delivered to Gaza to keep its genocidal war going, it’s clear that withholding aid is not only legal but essential.
Lammy also says the Israelis are starving Gazan children. This is untrue. It is also a blood libel. Everyone could see from the grisly propaganda circus staged around the recent release of skeletal hostages that the Gazans were conspicuously well fed and it was their Israeli hostages who had been starved. In Israel, there’s a view that stopping the aid is pointless because there’s enough food in Gaza to feed the population for around four months.
Sir Keir Starmer walks back Lammy’s remarks. The Prime Minister’s spokesman says:
Our position remains that Israel’s actions in Gaza are at clear risk of breaching international humanitarian law. And we continue to call on the government of Israel to abide by its international obligations when it comes to humanitarian assistance to the population in Gaza.
Israel’s actions are not at clear risk of breaching international humanitarian law. And it has consistently abided by its international obligations. Walking back Lammy means continuing to defame Israel with different words. |
