Israeli strikes on Lebanon following the US-Iran ceasefire deal are “wrong” and “should stop”, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said during a trip to Gulf nations.
Israel’s bombardment of Beirut is imperilling the two-week truce agreed to by US President Donald Trump after he had threatened that “a whole civilisation will die tonight” – language Sir Keir said he would personally “never use”.
The Prime Minister also said the UK is “monitoring” the use of UK bases by Washington to ensure they are only being used for collective self-defence rather than for offensive operations against Iran.
The Prime Minister arrived in Bahrain on Thursday afternoon as part of a trip to the region, which also included stops in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, amid signs the ceasefire is already under strain.
Israeli attacks on the Hezbollah militant group made Wednesday the deadliest day in Lebanon since the conflict started, amid disagreement over whether the country was included in the ceasefire.
Tehran closed the key oil shipping channel the Strait of Hormuz again in response to the Israeli strikes.
The Prime Minister said it was “hard to say” whether the strikes were a breach of the ceasefire between the US and Iran.
“We haven’t all got access to all the details of the ceasefire,” Sir Keir told ITV’s Talking Politics podcast in Bahrain.
“But look, let me be really clear about it – they’re wrong.”
Asked whether Israel was “wrong to be attacking in Lebanon now”, the Prime Minister replied: “Yes, that shouldn’t be happening.
“That should stop – that’s my strong view – and therefore, the question isn’t a technical one of whether it’s a breach of the agreement or not.
“The (question) is actually a matter of principles as far as I am concerned and, in a sense, my argument would be it should be included in a ceasefire and that’s the important part of the overall approach.”
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