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.”
World
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The COP29 climate talks have reached a last ditch deal on cash for developing countries, pulling the summit back from the brink of collapse after a group of countries stormed out of a negotiating room earlier.
The slew of deals finally signed off in the small hours of Sunday morning in Azerbaijan includes one that proved hardest of all – one about money.
Eventually the more than 190 countries in Baku agreed a target for richer polluting countries such as the UK, EU and Japan to drum up $300bn a year by 2035 to help poorer nations both curb and adapt to climate change.
It is a far cry from the $1.3trn experts say is needed, and from the $500bn that vulnerable countries like Uganda had said they would be willing to accept.
But in the end they were forced to, knowing they could not afford to live without it, nor wait until next year to try again, when a Donald Trump presidency would make things even harder.
Bolivia’s lead negotiator Diego Pacheco called it an “insult”, while the Marshall Islands’ Tina Stege said it was “not nearly enough, but it’s a start”.
UN climate chief Simon Stiell said: “This new finance goal is an insurance policy for humanity, amid worsening climate impacts hitting every country.
“No country got everything they wanted, and we leave Baku with a mountain of work still to do. So this is no time for victory laps.”
The funding deal was clinched more than 24 hours into overtime, and against what felt like all the odds.
The talks were rocked from the start by the incoming presidency of climate denier Mr Trump, the moment Argentina’s team were recalled back to Buenos Aires by their right-wing president and a controversial letter that sent shockwaves through the United Nations.
Pic: AP
The fraught two weeks of negotiations pitted the anger of developing countries who are footing the bill for more dangerous weather that they did little to cause, against the tight public finances of rich countries.
A relieved Juan Carlos Monterrey Gomez, climate envoy for Panama, said there is “light at the end of the tunnel”.
Just hours ago, the talks almost fell apart as furious vulnerable nations stormed out of negotiations in frustration over that elusive funding goal.
They were also angry with oil and gas producing countries, who stood accused of trying to dilute aspects of the deal on cutting fossil fuels.
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Climate-vulnerable nations storm out of talks
The UN talks work on consensus, meaning everyone has to agree for a deal to fly.
A row over how to follow up on last year’s pledge to “transition away from fossil fuels” was left unresolved and punted into next year, following objections from Chile and Switzerland for being too weak.
A draft deal simply “reaffirmed” the commitment but did not dial up the pressure in the way the UK, EU, island states and many others here wanted.
Saudi Arabia fought the hardest against any step forward on cutting fossil fuels, the primary cause of climate change that is intensifying floods, drought and fires around the world.
Governments did manage to strike a deal on carbon markets at COP29, which has been 10 years in the making and will allow countries to trade emissions cuts.
‘Not everything we wanted’
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The UK’s energy secretary, Ed Miliband, said the deal is “not everything we or others wanted”, but described it as a “step forward”.
“It’s a deal that will drive forward the clean energy transition, which is essential for jobs and growth in Britain and for protecting us all against the worsening climate crisis,” he added.
“Today’s agreement sends the signal that the clean energy transition is unstoppable.
“It is the biggest economic opportunity of the 21st century and through our championing of it we can help crowd in private investment.”
Protesters at the summit in Baku. Pic: AP
Read more:
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The Azerbaijan team leading COP29 said: “Every hour of the day, we have pulled people together. Every inch of the way, we have pushed for the highest common denominator.
“We have faced geopolitical headwinds and made every effort to be an honest broker for all sides.”
At least 20 people have been killed and 66 injured in Israeli strikes on central Beirut, Lebanese authorities have said.
Lebanon‘s health ministry said the death toll could rise as emergency workers dig through the rubble looking for survivors. DNA tests are being used to identify the victims, the ministry added.
The attack destroyed an eight-storey residential building and badly damaged several others around it in the Basta neighbourhood at 4am (2am UK time) on Saturday.
The central Basta neighbourhood in Beirut
The Israeli military did not warn residents to evacuate before the attack and has not commented on the casualties.
At least four bombs were dropped in the attack – the fourth targeting the city centre this week.
A separate drone strike in the southern port city of Tyre this morning killed two people and injured three, according to the state-run National News Agency.
The victims were Palestinian refugees from the nearby al Rashidieh camp who were out fishing, according to Mohammed Bikai, spokesperson for the Fatah Palestinian faction in the Tyre area.
Israel’s military warned residents today in parts of Beirut’s southern suburbs that they were near Hezbollah facilities, which the army would target in the near future. The warning, posted on X, told people to evacuate at least 500 metres away.
The army said that over the past day it had conducted intelligence-based strikes on Hezbollah targets in Dahiyeh, in Beirut’s southern suburbs, where Hezbollah has a strong presence. It said it hit several command centres and weapons storage facilities.
Pic: AP
Israel has killed several Hezbollah leaders in air strikes on the capital’s southern suburbs.
Heavy fighting between Israel and Hezbollah is ongoing in southern Lebanon, as Israeli forces push deeper into the country since launching a major offensive in September.
According to the Lebanese health ministry, at least 3,670 people have been killed in Israeli attacks there, with more than 15,400 wounded.
It has displaced about 1.2 million people – a quarter of Lebanon’s population – while Israel says about 90 soldiers and nearly 50 civilians have been killed in northern Israel.
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‘Dozens’ of Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrike
Meanwhile, six people, including three children and two women, were killed in the southern Gazan city of Khan Younis.
Some 44,176 Palestinians have been killed since the start of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, according to the Gaza health ministry.
The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count, but it has said that more than half of the fatalities are women and children.
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on 7 October 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking another 250 hostage.
US envoy Amos Hochstein was in the region this week to try to end more than 13 months of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, ignited last October by the war in Gaza.
Mr Hochstein indicated progress had been made after meetings in Beirut on Tuesday and Wednesday, before going to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and defence minister Israel Katz.
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