Israel mustn’t stop war on terrorists who cut off heads - British DS

Great Britain would not be told to halt its war on a terror group that attacked its sovereign territory and cut off the heads of its citizens, UK Defense Secretary Grant Shapps told the BBC on Sunday.

“If Britain had been subject to an attack of terrorists coming and murdering [1,200] people and cutting off heads, and we knew where those terrorists had gone, no one would say to Britain stop going after them,” Shapps said.

He issued a strong statement of support for Israel at a time when the international community, including many in Europe, is pressing it for an immediate ceasefire in light of the growing death toll from its military campaign, now in its second month.

Hamas has asserted that over 11,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza-related violence since its October 7 attack on Israel. In that attack, Hamas killed over 1,200 people and seized more than 239 hostages.

French President Emmanuel Macron made waves on Friday when he told the same network that Israel has no justification for such a high death toll in the Gaza war.

Calls for a ceasefire 

“De facto today [Palestinian] civilians are bombed. De facto, babies, ladies, old people are bombed and killed. There is no reason for that and no legitimacy, so we do urge Israel to stop,” Macron stated as he called for a ceasefire.

Neither Macron or Schapps answers direct questions as to whether Israel’s actions fell within the bounds of international law, stating only that Israel must abide by that law.

Shapps, however, said that it was important to note that Israel was taking steps to prevent civilian deaths and that its actions must be placed within the larger context of how nations act in wartime.

He compared the IDF aerial bombings of Gaza with the British and American bombing of the German city of Dresden during World War II.

“We have sort of forgotten that in war, very sadly people lose their lives. When Britain bombed Dresden 35,000 people lost their lives,” Shapps said.

“When you have an organization like Hamas hiding and shielding itself with and under the civilian population [in Gaza] it’s a sad fact that some people will lose their lives.” 

He noted that Israel was pursuing terrorists within the tunnels they were operating in and in which thousands of rockets were stored.

“How can we ask Israel not to go and destroy those bunkers,” Shapps asked.

“The answer is for Hamas to stop using those people [Palestinian civilians] as human shields and [it should] release the over 200 hostages” it seized on October 7.

“By the way some of them [the hostages] are Brits,” Shapps said.

In this war, Great Britain “should absolutely be on the side of right, and right is going after Hamas,” he stressed.