"This is the act of a genocidal regime dragging the world toward catastrophic war."

On June 13, Israel launched a series of intense attacks on Iran’s nuclear and military sites, claiming the strikes were necessary to prevent Iran from advancing its atomic capabilities. According to Iran’s UN envoy, at least 78 people were killed, including senior military officials and scientists. In retaliation, Iran fired waves of ballistic missiles at Israel, with explosions lighting up the skies over Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

The MCB described the strikes as a dangerous escalation in what it calls a months-long campaign of “unchecked aggression” led by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is currently the subject of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant issued in November 2024.

“Instead of facing justice, Netanyahu has been emboldened expanding the conflict from Gaza and the West Bank to Damascus, Beirut, Sanaa, and now Tehran,” the MCB said in a statement. “His actions have not only breached the sovereignty of multiple nations but have also brought the region to the brink of a much wider war.”

Dr Wajid Akhter, secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, said:

“This is the act of a genocidal regime dragging the world toward catastrophic war. Netanyahu, indicted for war crimes, unleashes terror with impunity while civilians burn – and Israel is handed a blank cheque. The UK government’s silence is complicity. Enough with the double standards. If any other state had committed a fraction of these crimes, sanctions would be immediate. Yet Israel is shielded, indulged, and excused. The international community has failed again and again, and history will remember this cowardice. Every delay, every deflection, every refusal to name the aggressor makes us all complicit. Justice demands more than words.”

The MCB criticised the UK government’s response as “weak and equivocal,” and called foreign secretary David Lammy’s appeal for “all parties to show restraint” both “cowardly and morally bankrupt.”

“There is no equivalence here. There is an aggressor, and there are victims,” the statement added.

The Council is urging the UK government to adopt immediate diplomatic and economic measures to hold Israel accountable under international law, and to take urgent steps to de-escalate the crisis.

On June 14, protestors gathered in London for an emergency demonstration to protest Israel’s attacks on Iran and to demand an end to UK arms sales to Israel, which they claim fuel its ongoing campaign against Palestinians. The protest was organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Friends of Al-Aqsa, Stop the War Coalition, Muslim Association of Britain, Palestinian Forum in Britain, and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.

Waving Palestinian, Iranian, and Lebanese flags, demonstrators chanted slogans such as “Stop bombing Iran, stop bombing Gaza,” “Stop arming Israel,” and “Free Palestine.” Protesters also called for sanctions to be imposed on Israel.