BICOM

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met UK Prime Minister Theresa May and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson in London yesterday.

At the start of their Downing Street meeting Netanyahu told May that the humanitarian situation in Gaza stems from Hamas’s desire to destroy Israel, as “Hamas diverts an enormous amount of resources from civilian needs to terror tunnels and other weapons of war,” as well as the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) decision to cut financial support to the Gaza Strip.

Netanyahu stressed that the protests seen over the past few months along the Gaza border are not non-violent, but rather Hamas has developed a new technique for terrorism whereby protestors “are being paid for and pushed by Hamas to try to break into Israel’s defences, kill as many Israelis as they can, right next to our border, and kidnap our soldiers”. He added that Israel is doing everything it can to minimise casualties during the protests along the border.

In response, Prime Minister May said the UK “absolutely recognises” Israel’s right to defend itself but was “concerned about the loss of Palestinians lives” since 30 March, when the wave of protests and riots began. “I hope we can talk about how we can alleviate that situation and how we can ensure that we can get back to a position where we are able to find a way through to talk about a two-state solution.” she said.

May also told reporters that the two leaders “have differences of opinion regarding the (Iranian) nuclear agreement,” and whilst she is concerned about Iran’s ballistic missile programme, she said that the UK is committed to the nuclear agreement as long as Iran is.

After the meeting, Netanyahu met with Boris Johnson. The Foreign Secretary said Iran must be prevented from acquiring nuclear weapons, although he stressed this should be done by “ensuring that Iran abides by its obligations under the [JCPOA nuclear] deal”.

Johnson said he was “very concerned by the deaths of over 120 Palestinians in recent weeks and the deteriorating situation in Gaza,” and called on Israel “to carry out a transparent, independent inquiry” into the events on the Israel-Gaza border.

“We continue to press both Israel and the Palestinian Authority on the need to refrain from actions which make peace more difficult,” Johnson said, which includes “settlement construction … terrorism, incitement to violence, and the refusal by some to acknowledge Israel’s right to exist”.