NEW YORK (VINnews) — British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps demonstrated his support for Israel in its ongoing offensive in the Gaza Strip.
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Speaking to The BBC on Sunday, Shapps praised Israeli efforts to make sure civilians are unharmed despite them being used by Hamas as human shields.
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“When Britain bombed Dresden, 35,000 people lost their lives”
UK Defence Secretary Grant Shapps says “we’ve sort of forgotten that in war, very sadly, people lose their lives” when asked about the scale of Israel’s strikes on Gaza. pic.twitter.com/gF1v7U2a4R
— MK (@mk_outofthebox) November 12, 2023
Asked about French President Emmanuel Macron’s calls for a ceasefire, the Defense Secretary replied, “I say to the Israelis, both privately and publicly, the same thing, which is that they have to make sure they take every step possible to protect the civilian population, observe international humanitarian law, but something that we all know from when London was bombed in the blitz, from when we bombed Dresden for example, is that sometimes civilians get hurt in wars and Israel has been attacked.”
He continued, “Unlike in the Second World War, where that bombing was indiscriminate, Israel [is] going out of [its] way to try to protect civilians, making phone calls to people to ask them to help clear areas where they know that Hamas are hiding, in that network of extraordinary tunnels under the ground.”
“If that attack, that terrorist attack a month ago, had been on Britain and 1,400 Brits had lost their lives in this country, the idea that we wouldn’t then pursue the terrorist organization when we knew where they were, and that anyone would tell Britain that we shouldn’t do that – I think would be rather improbable and extraordinary, and I think, therefore, Israel [does] have a right to do that but they must try to protect civilians,” said Shapps.
Shapps also mentioned the 240 hostages “some of whom are Brits” and said that “We are working our socks off” to pursue diplomatic efforts for their release.
He stressed that Britain supports “pauses” in the fighting so that it can get its own aid into Gaza.
“We want to make sure that all gets to the right place, but calling for a ceasefire is in effect saying ‘don’t worry about going after those terrorists’, and that is in effect to say it will all happen again, because tens of thousands of rockets and missiles are still underground in Gaza and will surely be used if Israel was to simply stop their current action,” added Shapps.
The British government has expressed support for Israel in its war against Hamas. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak visited Israel last month in a show of solidarity following the Hamas massacre of October 7.
During the visit, Sunak met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and said, “We absolutely support Israel’s right to defend itself, to go after Hamas, and to return its hostages.”
“In direct contrast to Hamas, Israel is doing everything possible to avoid harming civilians. We thank you for that, and are increasing our aid to the region,” he added, noting that “the Palestinian people are also victims of Hamas.”
Shapps previously told Sky News that asking Israel to reach a ceasefire with Hamas is “untenable”, adding Israel has “a right” to “go after” Hamas after its terrorists killed 1,400 Israelis on October 7 and abducted 240 others.