LONDON (Reuters) – Stopping British arms sales to Israel in the event of a ground attack in Rafah, in the Gaza Strip, would strengthen Hamas, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said on Sunday.
Israel on Saturday ordered the Palestinians to evacuate a large part of the city that the IDF plans to attack on the ground, despite US President Joe Biden’s threat to suspend the supply of certain weapons if it does so.
David Cameron said he could not support an operation in Rafah in the absence of protection for the hundreds of thousands of civilians taking refuge in this border town in the south of the enclave.
But he rejected the idea of stopping selling weapons to Israel
“We could, if we wanted to, put out some sort of political message and say we’re going to take this political step,” he told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg.
“The last time I was asked to do this… a few days later there was a brutal attack by Iran on Israel, including 140 cruise missiles,” he said. he continued.
For David Cameron, the “best answer” would be for Hamas, which controls Gaza, to accept an agreement providing for the release of the hostages.
“Simply announcing today that we are going to change our entire approach to arms exports rather than following our careful process, that would strengthen Hamas, that would make a hostage deal less likely. I don’t think that would be the right approach,” he said.
Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7, killing some 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostage, according to Israeli counts.
The Israeli military response in Gaza has left nearly 35,000 Palestinian dead, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.
(Reporting Paul Sandle; French version Elizabeth Pineau)
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