Workers' Weekly On-Line
Volume 53 Number 31, November 18, 2023 ARCHIVE HOME JBCENTRE SUBSCRIBE

Israeli genocide against the Palestinians

Evidence of US and British Involvement in Israeli War Crimes

There is ever more evidence of direct US and British military involvement in the heinous crimes being committed against the Palestinian people. At least six of the missiles in the most recent criminal attacks against the Jabalia refugee camp were provided by the US which killed hundreds of people and whole families. The Intercept [1] investigative journalists Ken Klippenstein and Daniel Boguslaw recently wrote an article which says US government documents also confirm the presence of a new classified US base and forces to sustain it. The Pentagon awarded a multimillion-dollar contract to build US troop facilities for a secret base it maintains deep within Israel's Negev desert, just 20 miles from Gaza.

On November 8, the Times of Israel [2] reported that "the US has sent special forces to Israel" and that a senior Pentagon official had claimed that this was to "to assist in finding hundreds of hostages held captive in the Gaza Strip by Hamas". The US has previously said only that "it has sent military advisers" to help Israel in its war on Gaza. Christopher Maier, an assistant secretary of defence, "indicated that commandos have also been deployed, according to the report". "We're actively helping the Israelis to do a number of things," Maier said at a special operations conference in Washington, The New York Times reported.

Alongside this, Declassified UK [3] highlighted that a secret "military co-operation agreement" was signed by Britain and Israel in 2020 "which 'strengthens' military ties", and that "the British parliament and public has never seen what is in it".

Declassified UK also reveals: "Britain's so-called Sovereign Base Areas (SBA) in Cyprus are home to important sites for the UK largest spy agency GCHQ. Its communication interception facility at Ayios Nikolaos in the Eastern SBA, Dhekelia, hoovers up calls, texts, and emails from across the Middle East, and sits 220 miles from Gaza." GCHQ has a central role in Britain's war-waging, and has explicitly said that "wherever and whenever the military have deployed over the years, we have supported them".

The article continues: "GCHQ also has a close relationship with Israel. Documents revealed by US whistleblower Edward Snowden in 2013 showed the US National Security Agency was providing data to its counterpart, the Israeli SIGINT National Unit (ISNU), which monitors and targets Palestinians."


British A400 military transport aircraft flew to Tel Aviv on Wednesday, November 8

Also Declassified UK reported: "British covert forces recently operated with Saudi Arabia in a secret war in Yemen. The UK military's 'D-Notice' committee, which seeks to stop the media publishing information it claims would damage national security, requested on October 28 all media editors to not publish information relating to SAS operations in Gaza."

Coupled with this it was also revealed by Declassified UK that "British A400 military transport aircraft flew to Tel Aviv on Wednesday" (November 8). Also, "Flight logs tracking aircraft from RAF Akrotiri, the UK's vast air base in Cyprus, show the RAF flew military transport aircraft to Tel Aviv, Israel's capital, every day from 13 to 26 October." [4]

It can be seen, therefore, that Britain is not only supporting Israel and opposing an immediate ceasefire but is almost certainly directly involved in this Israeli collective punishment being committed in Gaza against the Palestinian people. Over 11,000 people - half of them women and children - have been killed by the Israeli war on Gaza. Hospitals, schools and mosques have been bombed and Gaza city reduced to rubble. Water and electricity has been cut off and food blocked from getting to the people of Gaza - all designated as war crimes by the UN.

As the people of the world rise up and challenge these crimes and demand an immediate ceasefire, they must also demand that the US and British warmongers be brought to account alongside the Israeli state for their crimes against humanity.

Notes
1.US Quietly expands secret military base in Israel, The Intercept October 27, 2023
https://theintercept.com/2023/10/27/secret-military-base-israel-gaza-site-512/
2. US special forces said deployed to help Israel track down hostages held in Gaza, The Times of Israel, November 8 2023
https://www.timesofisrael.com/us-special-forces-said-deployed-to-help-israel-track-down-hostages-held-in-gaza/
3. The ICC must investigate British ministers for Gaza war crimes. Here's how, Declassified UK, November 3 2023
https://www.declassifieduk.org/the-icc-must-investigate-british-ministers-for-gaza-war-crimes-heres-how/
4. RAF admits to making 17 military flights to Israel since Gaza bombing began
https://www.declassifieduk.org/raf-admits-to-making-17-military-flights-to-israel-since-gaza-bombing-began/


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