UK: Conservative leadership candidates rally around Israel after Nasrallah killing
Candidates to become the UK Conservative Party's new leader have thrown their weight behind Israel following the assassination of Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, in Lebanon.
Robert Jenrick, attending a meeting of the Conservative Friends of Israel wearing a hoodie reading "Hamas are terrorists", said the Star of David should be shown at every entry point to the UK to show the country's support of Israel.
He also said if he became prime minister that he would move the UK embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, emulating former US President Donald Trump.
“If the Foreign Office or the civil servants don’t want to do it, I will build it myself,” he told the audience.
“I want this country to be the most welcoming country in the world for Israelis and for the Jewish community. So that at every airport and point of entry to our great country there is the Star of David there as a symbol that we support Israel, we stand with Israel. We are friends and allies of Israel, and Israelis are welcome in our country.”
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His rival Kemi Badenoch also made pro-Israel comments as she attempted to win over fellow MPs and the 172,000 members of the Conservative Party following the announced resignation of Rishi Sunak in the wake of defeat at the July general election.
Speaking to Sky News at the opening of the Conservative Party conference on Sunday, Badenoch said she welcomed the killing of the Hezbollah leader last week.
“I would be congratulating Prime Minister Netanyahu, I think what they did was extraordinary. Israel is showing that it has moral clarity in dealing with its enemies and the enemies of the West as well," she said.
Israel has carried out a relentless bombing campaign across Lebanon in recent days, targeting areas in Beirut as well as the south and the east of the country.
The continued bombings have raised concerns that the Israeli army may be preparing for a ground invasion of Lebanon.
Israeli tanks have been seen amassing near the Lebanese border, with ABC News quoting a US official who said that Israel may conduct a limited ground operation in southern Lebanon.
Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, said Israeli attacks have displaced up to 1 million people in Lebanon, calling it “the largest displacement movement that may have happened” in the country's history.
Sunday’s attacks were particularly severe in northeastern Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley, where at least 17 members of the same family were killed in an Israeli strike on a home in the town of Zboud.
Beirut’s streets remain filled with people who fled last week's attacks on Dahiyeh as they search for temporary shelter.
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