Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon accused the United Kingdom of hypocrisy after it requested an emergency Security Council meeting regarding Jerusalem’s decision to expand military operations in Gaza.
“On October 7, the Hamas terrorist organization abducted British citizens along with hundreds of Israelis. If today fifty British citizens were being held in Gaza by terrorists, the British government would not stand idly by,” Danon wrote on X.
At the UK’s initiative, an urgent UN Security Council session is being convened in light of the Israeli cabinet’s decision to expand its operations in Gaza.
— Danny Danon 🇮🇱 דני דנון (@dannydanon) August 8, 2025
On October 7, the Hamas terrorist organization abducted British citizens along with hundreds of Israelis.
If today fifty…
The U.N. Security Council meeting on Israel’s Cabinet decision is scheduled for Sunday.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned Jerusalem’s move on Friday in a statement posted to X, calling it “wrong” and urging it to “reconsider immediately.”
Starmer’s statement elicited a scathing response from U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, who tweeted:
“So Israel is expected to surrender to Hamas & feed them even though Israeli hostages are being starved? Did the UK surrender to the Nazis and drop food for them? Ever heard of Dresden, PM Starmer? That wasn’t food you dropped. If you had been PM then, the UK would be speaking German!”
So Israel is expected to surrender to Hamas & feed them even though Israeli hostages are being starved? Did UK surrender to Nazis and drop food to them? Ever heard of Dresden, PM Starmer? That wasn’t food you dropped. If you had been PM then UK would be speaking German! https://t.co/VpG2tAYvie
— Ambassador Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) August 8, 2025
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday reiterated that Israel has no intention of occupying the Gaza Strip, saying the expansion of the war is aimed at freeing the local population from Hamas’s regime of terror.
“We are not going to occupy Gaza—we are going to free Gaza from Hamas,” said Netanyahu.
“Gaza will be demilitarized, and a peaceful civilian administration will be established, one that is not the Palestinian Authority, not Hamas, and not any other terrorist organization,” he continued. “This will help free our hostages and ensure Gaza does not pose a threat to Israel in the future.”
The Israeli Security Cabinet overnight Thursday decided by a “decisive majority” to approve Netanyahu’s plan for “taking control of Gaza City, while distributing humanitarian assistance to the civilian population outside the combat zones,” the Prime Minister’s Office said.
The statement noted that the forum voted on five principles: disarming Hamas, returning all 50 hostages, demilitarizing Gaza, Israeli security control of the Strip and creating an alternative civil administration.
