SIR – On today’s anniversary of the horrifying attack on Israel we should be clear who is responsible for the destruction over the past year: Iran.
Hamas launched its assault on October 7 with Iranian planning and support. Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel on the instructions of its Iranian paymasters. The Houthis, also backed by Iran, followed suit.
Iran knew exactly what the consequences would be for the people of Gaza, Lebanon and Yemen. Israel had no option but to respond with force, although it has tried to minimise casualties.
Israelis are fighting for their lives and paying a terrible price to defeat the tyrants of Tehran. On this of all days they deserve our full support.
Francis Bown
London E3
SIR – When I was growing up in the 1980s, Terry Waite – kidnapped in Lebanon by Islamists – was a household name. I recall our primary school class writing letters urging his release.
It shames our nation that the names of the British citizens who were kidnapped one year ago remain virtually unknown. Emily Damari, aged 28, remains in captivity, having been kidnapped from her apartment at gunpoint and abducted to Gaza in her own car. Her family wait in vain for news of her condition.
Meanwhile, many in her generation take to the streets to cheer Hamas and Hezbollah and call October 7 a triumph (“Protesters march through London with ‘I love Hezbollah’ banners”, report, October 6). Perhaps if Emily’s story was more widely known, those marching might pause to consider just who they are supporting.
Nicholas Higgs
London W1
SIR – Among the thousands of pro-Palestinian activists who marched through central London on Saturday were those who came to celebrate the anniversary of the rape, abduction, deliberate mutilation and burning alive of Jews in Israel last October.
Some used the slogan “I love Hezbollah.” Would it not be more honest for their placards to be replaced with ones that read: “We hate Jews”?
Dr Fabia M Shaw
London NW11
SIR – Sir Keir Starmer has called upon Israel to “return to a political and not military solution” (report, telegraph.co.uk, October 6).
Leaving aside the false premise that political and military solutions are mutually exclusive, it surely will not have escaped him that Hamas and Hezbollah (as Iranian proxies) are committed to the destruction of the state of Israel, an objective repeated by the Iranian Supreme Leader in his recent address (report, October 4). It might, therefore, be helpful if the Prime Minister were to articulate the “political solution” which he thinks could be achievable.
Charles Samek KC
London EC4
SIR – On today’s anniversary of the horrifying attack on Israel we should be clear who is responsible for the destruction over the past year: Iran.
Hamas launched its assault on October 7 with Iranian planning and support. Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel on the instructions of its Iranian paymasters. The Houthis, also backed by Iran, followed suit.
Iran knew exactly what the consequences would be for the people of Gaza, Lebanon and Yemen. Israel had no option but to respond with force, although it has tried to minimise casualties.
Israelis are fighting for their lives and paying a terrible price to defeat the tyrants of Tehran. On this of all days they deserve our full support.
Francis Bown
London E3
SIR – When I was growing up in the 1980s, Terry Waite – kidnapped in Lebanon by Islamists – was a household name. I recall our primary school class writing letters urging his release.
It shames our nation that the names of the British citizens who were kidnapped one year ago remain virtually unknown. Emily Damari, aged 28, remains in captivity, having been kidnapped from her apartment at gunpoint and abducted to Gaza in her own car. Her family wait in vain for news of her condition.
Meanwhile, many in her generation take to the streets to cheer Hamas and Hezbollah and call October 7 a triumph (“Protesters march through London with ‘I love Hezbollah’ banners”, report, October 6). Perhaps if Emily’s story was more widely known, those marching might pause to consider just who they are supporting.
Nicholas Higgs
London W1
SIR – Among the thousands of pro-Palestinian activists who marched through central London on Saturday were those who came to celebrate the anniversary of the rape, abduction, deliberate mutilation and burning alive of Jews in Israel last October.
Some used the slogan “I love Hezbollah.” Would it not be more honest for their placards to be replaced with ones that read: “We hate Jews”?
Dr Fabia M Shaw
London NW11
SIR – Sir Keir Starmer has called upon Israel to “return to a political and not military solution” (report, telegraph.co.uk, October 6).
Leaving aside the false premise that political and military solutions are mutually exclusive, it surely will not have escaped him that Hamas and Hezbollah (as Iranian proxies) are committed to the destruction of the state of Israel, an objective repeated by the Iranian Supreme Leader in his recent address (report, October 4). It might, therefore, be helpful if the Prime Minister were to articulate the “political solution” which he thinks could be achievable.
Charles Samek KC
London EC4