MP: militant attack on Israel ‘horrendous’

JOHN Howell has condemned the attack on Israel by Palestinian militant group Hamas, which has caused the deaths of hundreds of civilians.

The Henley MP described the barrage of rocket attacks and fighters entering communities and taking hostages near the Gaza Strip as
“horrendous”.

More than 1,200 people have been killed in Israel since Saturday, including 260 people massacred by Hamas gunmen at a music festival.

Israel says it has since regained control of its communities close to the border but some militants remain active.

The defence minister has ordered a “complete siege” of the Gaza Strip, cutting off food, fuel, electricity and water supplies to the area, which has also been hit by strikes that have killed more than 1,100 people.

Seventeen British citizens are feared dead or missing in the conflict.

Mr Howell said both sides were suffering from the military action.

Speaking from Strasbourg where he is meeting with the Council of Europe, he said: “This is an horrendous attack on Israel and we should all pause to think of the loss of life that has occurred on both sides.

“This is part of continuing activity that is influenced by some very key groups in the area.

“In the town of Sderot in Israel, the number of pregnant women who have had spontaneous miscarriages has gone up to 59 per cent as a result of these attacks from Gaza and that cannot be allowed to go on.

“That’s a fundamental breach of their human rights and we need to stop the bitterness of the aggression in order to move forward.”

Mr Howell is vice-chairman of the Conservative Friends of Israel, which is a parliamentary group dedicated to strengthening business, cultural and political ties with the UK.

He said: “The Palestinians have been arguing for some time for a series of things to happen, such as an airport, which has been refused on security grounds.

“I can see the security reasons why they wouldn’t want an airport on the edge of Israel but unless discussions on this take place then we are going to get nowhere.

“In the short term, what will continue to happen is that Israel will continue to bomb Gaza and what that does is hides the enormous co-operation that exists between the two groups, not forgetting that Israel is also a country with a strong Arab population.

“What we all need to recognise is the Palestinians have moved in aggressively to Israel and they should return and the bombings stop.”

Hamas, designated as a terrorist group by the UK, USA and European Union, rules the Gaza Strip and is sworn to Israel’s destruction and wants to replace it with an Islamic state.

It has fought several wars since it seized power in 2007 and in between it has fired, or allowed other groups to fire, thousands of rockets at Israel and carried out other attacks.

Israel has also repeatedly attacked Hamas with air strikes and, with the help of Egypt, has blockaded the Gaza Strip since 2007.

In 2012 Mr Howell was sent death threats after an email exchange about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with one of his constituents was posted on the internet.

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