BENJAMIN NETANYAHU was accused today of trying to drag Britain and the wider world into Israel’s murderous wars in Lebanon and Gaza.
Large numbers of diplomats from multiple nations walked out as Israel’s prime minister headed to the podium for his speech at the United Nations general assembly meeting in New York.
Mr Netanyahu opened his speech by saying he wanted to “set the record straight” against the “lies” that other nations were telling the meeting of the bloc.
He said that Israel has the right to defend itself from “savage murderers” and claimed that supporting Israel was in the “interest of all of us.”
Mr Netanyahu held up a map of allied Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Sudan and Israel labelled “the blessing” in one hand and a map of Syria, Iraq and Iran labelled “the curse” in the other.
He said the “blessing” would be a route to create energy trade, pipelines and other trade from Asia to Western nations, whereas the “curse” would be a threat to “all.”
“What choice will you make in this battle of good or evil,” he said.
“When you stand with Israel, you stand in your own interests.”
It came after his foreign minister confirmed Israel will not engage in any ceasefire talks or accept any diplomatic ideas concerning Lebanon.
A Stop the War spokesperson said: “Netanyahu is trying to drag the wider world, including Britain, into the murderous wars he is waging in Lebanon and Gaza.
“The British government must use all possible pressure to force Israel to stop the killing and agree a ceasefire in both wars.”
On Thursday, British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer took the same stage, calling for a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
He called for the need to prevent a regional conflict in the Middle East, saying that “further escalation serves no-one.”
“I call on Israel and Hezbollah. Stop the violence. Step back from the brink,” he said.
Sir Keir warned that the alternative to a ceasefire is “more suffering for innocent people on all sides and the prospect of a wider war that no-one can control and with consequences that none of us can foresee.”
He also called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the release of the hostages.
Sir Keir said: “It shames us all that the suffering in Gaza continues to grow.”
In response to Mr Netanyahu’s speech, Green Party co-leader and Bristol Central MP Carla Denyer said: “No-one is winning while Israel turns down ceasefire proposals, more die in Gaza and Lebanon, and hostages are not released.
“The UK government must revoke all arms licences and use all diplomatic power to bring an end to the killing.”
Labour MP Diane Abbott hit out at the United States’ inaction on Israel’s wars today, posting on X: “It is widely believed Netanyahu wants war at all costs, in order to cling to office.
“But the US is not paralysed. There are many things it could do to bring about peace. It chooses not to.”
Defence Secretary John Healey said today that he is looking at a rumoured ground invasion into Lebanon “really carefully.”
Israeli army chief Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi told troops on Wednesday that ongoing air strikes were “to prepare the ground for your possible entry and to continue degrading Hezbollah.”
Mr Healey said Mr Netanyahu will “hear about the calls from many countries led by the United States and Britain for an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon — 21 days in which the fighting should stop on both sides” during the UN meeting.
More than 3,000 protesters gathered in central London on Thursday evening, with the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) saying it “sent a message loud and clear to the government that it must end its complicity in Israel’s genocide in Gaza and its bombing of Lebanon now.”
PSC deputy director Peter Leary said at the demonstration: “Calling for a ceasefire while continuing to supply weapons and refusing to apply any meaningful pressure on Israel to stop the slaughter stinks of hypocrisy.”
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Air strikes across the Lebanon-Israel border continued during Mr Netanyahu’s speech, with explosions rocking the Lebanese capital Beirut.
Israel said it had struck Hezbollah’s headquarters in a “precise strike.”
In an update, the military said that the headquarters were located “under residential buildings” in the Dahieh suburb in the city’s south.
Lebanon Health Minister Firass Abiad said the death toll from Israeli strikes on Lebanon since the early hours of Friday was 25.
He said the dead included dozens of women and children.
Nearly 800 people have been killed in Israeli air strikes in Lebanon since Monday, local officials reported today.
Mr Netanyahu said in his speech that he would not rest until all the hostages are returned, highlighting that families had been devastated by the events of October 7.
Earlier in the day, an Israeli air strike killed a family of nine in a Lebanese border village, Lebanese authorities said.
The killed members of the Zahara family included a child of five, a pregnant woman and her unborn child, and 15-year-old Youssef.
But Israel “will not rest” until its residents can return to the north of the country, Mr Netanyahu said, telling the assembly: “We are winning.”
He said other Iranian proxies, referring to Hezbollah and the Houthis, had joined Hamas in attacks against his nation, and warned Iran that there was nowhere to hide from Israel.
Mr Netanyahu also called for a return of sanctions on Iran to prevent it from creating nuclear weapons, while threatening that there was “no place in Iran” that Israel could not reach.
He criticised the UN as a “house of darkness” and a “swamp of anti-semitic bile,” saying Israel has been treated less fairly than others.
In the last decade there have been more resolutions passed against Israel than resolutions against the entire world combined, he said, adding: “What hypocrisy. What a double standard. What a joke.”
No mention of a ceasefire was made.
Thousands of people rallied in New York on Thursday evening as Mr Netanyahu arrived at his hotel ahead of the meeting, demanding a free Palestine and telling him: “Hands off Lebanon.”
Protesters also gathered outside the UN building during the speech.
