London, Apr. 15, (PA Media/dpa/GNA) – British Foreign Secretary David Cameron has urged Israel to be “smart as well as tough” by not escalating the conflict with Iran.
Israel should recognise Tehran’s attack as an “almost total failure” and “think with head as well as heart” in its response, Cameron said.
He confirmed that British RAF jets shot down “a small number” of drones fired by Iran in what was its first direct military assault on Israeli soil.
The unprecedented attack by Iran, which it said was in retaliation against a strike on an Iranian diplomatic compound in Syria earlier this month, has raised fears over the Israel-Hamas war spiralling into a wider regional conflagration.
Speaking ahead of a parliamentary statement by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on the matter, Cameron on Monday echoed US President Joe Biden’s comment that Israel should view the successful defence against Iranian missiles and drones as a victory.
The foreign secretary told Times Radio: “The best thing to do in the case of Israel is to recognise this has been a failure for Iran.
“And so they should, as President Biden has said to them, as it were, take the win and then move on to focus on how to eradicate Hamas in Gaza and how to get those hostages free.”
He described it as a “double defeat” for Tehran, with its attack being not only “an almost total failure, but also the rest of the world can now see what a malign influence they are in the region”.
“Had those weapons not been shot down, there could have been thousands of casualties, including civilian casualties,” he told Sky News, describing Tehran’s actions as “reckless and dangerous”.
RAF jets could defend Israel again, even if the country’s leaders ignored calls from the UK and US to hold back from retaliation against Iran, Cameron suggested.
“If there was another Iran attack – Iran has said they’re not going to attack again, and after the failure of their attack, I’m not surprised – but absolutely, we’ll always keep these things under review.
“We’re trying to avoid escalation and the action we took alongside the Americans and others clearly has helped to stop that escalation because the Iran attack was an almost total failure.”
Britain’s role was to “backfill” for the US in joint operations against the so-called Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, he said.
“But at the same time, we also agreed that if there were drones coming in through that area that we would shoot them down. And our planes did that. A small number of drones were shot down.”
The senior Tory called for a pivot in focus to the release of hostages by Hamas.
“Our hope is that there won’t be a retaliatory response, and instead the world’s focus should shift to Hamas.
“They still hold those hostages. They’ve been offered a deal that prisoners can be released from Israeli jails in return for some of those hostages and there’ll be a pause in the fighting. That’s what needs to happen next and that’s what I hope we can focus on.”
He placed the blame for the ongoing Gaza war with Hamas, saying the militant group has rejected Israel’s offer.
“So – anyone in any doubt who is responsible for keeping this conflict going, it’s not Israel, it is Hamas, and the focus should be on them.”
An Israeli offensive in Gaza, sparked by Hamas’s October 7 attack that claimed the lives of 1,200 people, has caused widespread devastation and killed more than 33,000 Palestinians.
Leaders of the G7 on Sunday warned an “uncontrollable regional escalation” in the Middle East must be prevented and said they “stand ready to take further measures now and in response to further destabilising initiatives”.
All eyes will be on the response from Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, with countries in the region and elsewhere urging restraint to avoid intensifying the conflict.
GNA