Ex-defence secretary Ben Wallace warns Israel against ‘killing rage’ in Gaza
Former defence secretary Ben Wallace has warned Israel risks losing its “legal” and “moral” authority if it continues with its “killing rage” in Gaza, as he appealed to all sides to pursue a two-state solution.
Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Mr Wallace insisted he was not calling for an immediate ceasefire in the region, but for Israel to “stop this crude and indiscriminate method of attack”.
If not, he said the actions of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government could “fuel the conflict for another 50 years” and “radicalise Muslim youth across the globe”.
Asked about his article during a trip to Scotland, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak it was “clear that too many civilian lives have been lost” and that “nobody wants to see this conflict go on a day longer than it has to”.
Israel-Gaza war latest: Major Gaza road a ‘battlefield’ as fighting continues in south
Mr Netanyahu has been criticised over the country’s tactics against Hamas following the group’s terror attacks on 7 October, which Israel has said saw 1,200 people killed and 240 more taken hostage.
While Israel has been given support by some to defend itself, there has been growing concern over the impact on civilians in the Gaza Strip during its ground and air offensive.
Over the weekend, there was a shift in language from the UK government, with Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron joining Germany in calling for a “sustainable ceasefire”, saying that “too many civilians have been killed”.
Mr Sunak echoed these remarks on Monday, saying he wanted the sustainable pause in fighting so “hostages are released, rockets stop being fired into Israel by Hamas and we continue to get more aid in”.
He also welcomed the decision by the Israeli government to open another crossing at Kerem Shalom, having spoken to Mr Netanyahu about it last week.
“The UK is playing a leading role in making sure that aid reaches those that desperately need it,” Mr Sunak added.
In his article, former Army officer Mr Wallace pointed to his experience during the Troubles in Northern Ireland, saying actions like internment showed “a disproportionate response by the state can serve as a terrorist organisation’s best recruiting sergeant”.
Ben Wallace served as the UK’s defence secretary between 2019 and 2023
He said he was “unequivocal” in his condemnation of Hamas, but while going after the organisation is “legitimate… obliterating vast swathes of Gaza is not”.
Mr Wallace added: “We are entering a dangerous period now where Israel’s original legal authority of self-defence is being undermined by its own actions.
“It is making the mistake of losing its moral authority alongside its legal one.”
Pointing to Israel’s prime minister, he wrote: “I am sure that the shame Benjamin Netanyahu feels for not foreseeing the 7 October attacks is deep, especially for someone who presented himself as a security hawk and tough guy.
“But perhaps that shame is driving him to lose sight of the long term.
“Netanyahu’s mistake was to miss the attack in the first place. But if he thinks a killing rage will rectify matters, then he is very wrong. His methods will not solve this problem.
“In fact, I believe his tactics will fuel the conflict for another 50 years. His actions are radicalising Muslim youth across the globe.”
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday that he was ‘proud to have prevented the establishment of a Palestinian state’
Mr Wallace also criticised Israel’s ambassador to the UK, Tzipi Hotovely, who in an interview with Sky News last week dismissed a two-state solution after the conflict ends.
“She is wrong,” he wrote. “There must be. It has been the answer ever since the creation of modern-day Israel.”
But he claimed that once the IDF had withdrawn from Gaza, moderate Palestinian voices calling for a two-state solution would face “extinction” and “international sympathy will have expired”, with Israel “forced to exist in an even greater state of siege” as Hamas would still exist.
The former minister added: “The path to peace, just like in Northern Ireland, means we have to keep trying and do all we can to marginalise the extremes.
“With the Oslo accords, we came close to realising a two-state solution. Now is the time to re-energise that process.”
Israel has approved a plan to capture all of the Gaza Strip and remain there for an unspecified length of time, Israeli officials say.
According to Reuters, the plan includes distributing aid, though supplies will not be let in yet.
The Israeli official told the agency that the newly approved offensive plan would move Gaza’s civilian population southward and keep humanitarian aid from falling into Hamas’s hands.
On Sunday, the United Nations rejected what it said was a new plan for aid to be distributed in what it described as Israeli hubs.
Israeli cabinet ministers approved plans for the new offensive on Monday morning, hours after it was announced that tens of thousands of reserve soldiers are being called up.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has so far failed to achieve his goal of destroying Hamas or returning all the hostages, despite more than a year of brutal war in Gaza.
Palestinian children struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Khan Younis, Gaza. Pic: AP
Officials say the plan will help with these war aims but it would also push hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to southern Gaza, exacerbating an already dire humanitarian crisis.
They said the plan included the “capturing of the strip and the holding of territories”.
It would also try to prevent Hamas from distributing humanitarian aid, which Israel says strengthens the group’s rule in Gaza.
The UN rejected the plan, saying it would leave large parts of the population, including the most vulnerable, without supplies.
It said it “appears designed to reinforce control over life-sustaining items as a pressure tactic – as part of a military strategy”.
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More than 52,000 Palestinians have been killed since the IDF launched its ground offensive in the densely-populated territory, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
It followed the deadly Hamas attacks on Israel, which killed 1,200 people and saw around 250 people taken hostage.
A fragile ceasefire that saw a pause in the fighting and the exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners collapsed earlier this year.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to retaliate against the Houthis and their Iranian “masters” after the group launched a missile attack on the country’s main international airport.
A missile fired by the group from Yemen landed near Ben Gurion Airport, causing panic among passengers in the terminal building.
“Attacks by the Houthis emanate from Iran,” Mr Netanyahu wrote on X. “Israel will respond to the Houthi attack against our main airport AND, at a time and place of our choosing, to their Iranian terror masters.”
Israeli police officers investigate the missile crater. Pic: Reuters
The missile impact left a plume of smoke and briefly halted flights and commuter traffic at the airport. Some international carriers have cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv for several days.
Four people were lightly wounded, paramedic service Magen David Adom said.
Air raid sirens went off across Israel and footage showed passengers yelling and rushing for cover.
The attack came hours before senior Israeli cabinet ministers were set to vote on whether to intensify the country’s military operations in the Gaza Strip, and as the army began calling up thousands of reserves in anticipation of a wider operation in the enclave.
Houthi military spokesperson Brigadier General Yahya Saree said the group fired a hypersonic ballistic missile at the airport.
Iran’s defence minister later told a state TV broadcaster that if the country was attacked by the US or Israel, it would target their bases, interests and forces where necessary.
Israel’s military said several attempts to intercept the missile were unsuccessful.
Air, road and rail traffic were halted after the attack, police said, though it resumed around an hour later.
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Yemen’s Houthis have been firing missiles at Israel since its war with Hamas in Gaza began on 7 October 2023, and while most have been intercepted, some have penetrated the country’s missile defence systems and caused damage.
Israel has previously struck the group in Yemen in retaliation and the US and UK have also launched strikes after the Houthis began attacking international shipping, saying it was in solidarity with Palestinians over Israel’s war with Hamas.
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