JEREMY Corbyn has accused Israel of committing to a “ground-zero” approach in Gaza as he spoke of his horror at “watching on live television people starving to death”.
The former Labour leader hit out at America and Britain supplying aid to Gaza while continuing to arm Israel – saying "you couldn’t make this stuff up”.
And he said that Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu (below) was continuing the war in the hopes of clinging to power.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with The National, Corbyn said he wished he “understood” Britain and America’s seemingly unflinching support for Israel – despite increasingly exasperated statements from London and Washington.
He said: “We are now in a sort of contradictory position where the US and Britain are supplying arms to Israel, those arms are obviously being used to bomb Gaza and there’s at least 30,000 dead already.
"But it seems to be an annihilation strategy on everything in the Gaza strip, particularly destroying places of worship, mosques and churches but also any historic buildings in Gaza.
“So it’s like almost a ground-zero approach. And then president [Joe] Biden gets a lot of kickback from some Democrats in the USA so announces he wants more aid to go into Gaza and he talks about setting up a port and everything else.
READ MORE: Israel ordered to prevent genocide in Gaza by UN's top court
“Yet the aid is actually being bombed as it goes in by American-supplied planes and bombs. I mean you couldn’t make this stuff up.
"So we have this horrendous position now, according to the UN, and I’m sure they’re right, of famine and starvation on the Gaza strip and less than 20 kilometres away from most people in the Gaza strip there is food, water, medicine in plenty – all denied to them. It’s like the systematic starvation of people there.”
He blasted defences of Israel saying the country was acting legitimately saying: “It’s not. The International Court of Justice has declared it as such that these are genocidal acts.”
The International Court of Justice is yet to rule on whether Israel is committing genocide in Gaza but has warned the country to take steps to avoid the mass destruction of the Palestinian people.
Corbyn added that he believed Israel’s allies were “a bit stuck” because of the country’s internal politics.
Netanyahu has become increasingly unpopular in Israel since the outbreak of the war – with its citizens viewing him as responsible for the security failings that allowed the Hamas attacks on October 7.
READ MORE: UK Government warned 'begging' Israel won't avert famine in Gaza
But he is protected politically because it would be potentially destabilising to change leadership in the circumstances.
“Netanyahu’s survival as prime minister depends on him continuing the war because they don’t want to get rid of him during the war, so he’s got no incentive to do anything other than continue bombing and that’s exactly what he seems to be doing,” said Corbyn.
“So will the US position shift? The only way it can shift is by suspending all arms supplies and cutting off financial aid to show to Israel that they’ve got to provide aid. This is some kind of horror show of the first order. We’re watching on live television people starving to death.”
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