The former leader of GCHQ has informed Sky News that the long-term implications of Israel’s military operations in Gaza will have “global repercussions,” affecting “Europe and beyond.”
In an interview with The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim podcast, Sir Jeremy Fleming also cautioned that extremists could exploit the conflict to radicalize youths.
He embraced the UK, France, and Canada’s joint condemnation of Israel’s “wholly disproportionate” activities in Gaza.
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Jeremy Fleming. Pic: AP
This week, the three countries warned of potential “targeted sanctions” and other “concrete actions” unless Israel suspends its current military campaign and lifts the restrictions on aid delivery.
The Prime Minister aligned with his counterparts to express that “the level of human suffering in Gaza has become uncontrollable,” a stance that was however sharply criticized by Benjamin Netanyahu.
Sir Jeremy commented that their statement was “strongly worded” – but felt it was “somewhat overdue.”
“This reflects the world’s collective thinking for quite some time,” he added.
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British doctors describe conditions in Gaza
Sir Jeremy, who stepped down as GCHQ’s director in 2023 after serving for six years and previously served at MI5 since 1993.
When asked whether ongoing developments in the Middle East may be exploited to form indigenous extremist networks in countries like the UK and US, Sir Jeremy replied, “I am fairly certain that it will contribute to the radicalization process for some. It could serve as an additional impetus to shift toward violent extremism.”
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Israel allows ‘basic’ amounts of aid into Gaza
He added, “The long-term implications are very challenging to predict. And the lack of a political process makes it particularly hard to reconcile.”
In the same interview, Sir Jeremy expressed concerns over artificial intelligence’s potential to introduce novel national security threats, as well as its possible use by adversaries to inflict harm.
