British prime minister Rishi Sunak has sought to distance Britain’s recent air strikes in Yemen from the conflict in Gaza, insisting to the House of Commons that he ordered the bombing of Houthi rebels to prevent British ships from becoming “fair game” in the Red Sea.
Mr Sunak repeatedly dodged questions, however, from numerous MPs who pressed him on Britain’s overarching strategy in the Middle East and how he could be sure that the UK would not as a consequence of the air strikes be sucked deeper into military action in the region.
The weekend air strikes, in which Britain participated alongside the US, targeted the bases of Houthi rebels who had attacked international ships in the Red Sea, an important global shipping lane.
The Houthis, who have links to the Iranian regime, which also backs Hamas in Gaza, claimed they were acting in defence of the Palestinian people by targeting ships that supply Israel. However, US and UK warships in the region were also targeted by the Houthis on January 9th, which Mr Sunak said was the biggest attack on the royal navy “in decades”.
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In a statement to the House of Commons about the air strikes, Mr Sunak said they were intended to be a one-off to convince the Houthis to “step back” from attacking British and other international vessels in the Red Sea. He said the RAF struck 13 targets across two different Houthi bases and that no civilians had been killed.
“I do not take decisions on the use of force lightly. That is why I stress that this action was taken in self-defence. It was limited, not escalatory,” he said.
As well as defending UK ships, Mr Sunak said he acted to enforce the free movement of maritime vessels and to protect global commerce, which relies on Red Sea shipping. He rejected the “malign narrative” of the Houthis that linked the action to the Israel-Hamas conflict.
He said there were risks to “inaction … [which would] send a dangerous message that British vessels and interests are fair game”.
Labour leader Keir Starmer said he backed the “targeted action” but said “military action must be followed by a clear strategy” and asked Mr Sunak to outline it.
Stephen Flynn, leader in the Commons of the Scottish National Party, told the prime minister that the Houthis were “the fundamentalists’ fundamentalists” who would be happy to enter conflict with the US and UK and British bombing would not deter them. “What comes next? What is the plan?” he asked.
Liberal Democrats leader Ed Davey asked Mr Sunak what he would do “to ensure the limited strikes remain limited”.
The prime minister said he would not speculate about possible further actions if the Houthis, as they have threatened, continue to fire missiles at international vessels. Although it was intended as a one-off action, he said, Britain would “not hesitate to protect our interests where required”.
He rejected criticism from some Labour MPs including Zarah Sultana who suggested the UK’s bombing would inflame tensions in Gaza, Lebanon and across the Middle East. Mr Sunak said there was “no linkage” with the Gaza conflict.
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