DUP MP compares pre-emptive strike by Israel against Hezbollah to defending citizens from attacks by IRA or Russia

Strangord MP Jim Shannon was speaking after Israel launched a wave of air strikes across southern Lebanon early on Sunday in what it said was a pre-emptive strike on Hezbollah.

He visited Israel as part of a delegation of politicians from NI, England and Wales just after Easter.

His comments came after Hamas launched more than 320 Katyusha rockets, a "large number" of drones at Israel to avenge the killing of one of its top commanders last month.

The Arab League, EU, Canada, UK and US categorise Hamas as a terrorist organisation. However it is backed by Iran, Russia and North Korea.

The heavy exchange of fire between Israel and Hamas on Sunday threatened to trigger an all-out war that could draw in the United States, Iran and militant groups across the region.

It could also torpedo efforts to forge a ceasefire in Gaza, where Israel has been at war with the Palestinian group Hamas, an ally of Hezbollah, for over 10 months.

By mid-morning on Sunday, it appeared that the exchange had ended, with both sides saying they confined attacks to military targets.

But the situation remained tense, and the full extent of casualties and damage was not immediately known. At least three people were killed in the strikes on Lebanon .

The Israeli military said Hezbollah was planning to launch a heavy barrage of rockets and missiles towards Israel.

Soon afterwards, Hezbollah announced it had launched an attack on Israeli military positions as an initial response to the killing of Fouad Shukur, one of its founders, in an Israeli air strike in Beirut last month.

The attacks came as Egypt is hosting a new round of talks aimed at ending the Israel-Hamas war. Hezbollah has said it will halt the fighting if there is a ceasefire in Gaza. Iran supports both groups as well as militants in Syria, Iraq and Yemen who might join any larger conflict.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu , speaking at the start of a Cabinet meeting, said the military had eliminated "thousands of rockets that were aimed at northern Israel " and urged citizens to adhere to directives from the Home Front Command.

"We are determined to do everything to defend our country, to return the residents of the north securely to their homes and to continue upholding a simple rule: Whoever harms us - we will harm them," he said.

Randa Slim, a senior fellow at the Washington DC -based Middle East Institute, said Sunday morning's exchange was "still within the rules of engagement and unlikely at this point to lead to an all-out war".

DUP MP Jim Shannon said there is a responsibility on western democratic states to support their fellow democratic state of Israel.

He said: “I understand there's been up to 400 missiles fired from Hezbollah towards Israel [on Sunday]. So therefore that will be an indication of the importance of Israel's preemptive strikes.

“It is first responsibility of any country, in this case Israel, is to protect its people from terrorist groups such as Hezbollah. It's similar to the British government protecting their citizens from the IRA or Ukraine protecting its from Russian aggression.”

Contrary to common perception, he said, Hezbollah is not the official defence force of Lebanon.

"No - I had occasion to visit Lebanon many years ago and met some of the actual Lebanese army. No, Hezbollah are closely aligned to Iran that gives finance and support to terrorist groups such as the Houthis in Yemen, Hamas in Palestine and Hezbollah in Lebanon and Syria as well.

"In the opinion of most of the free world, and increasingly so a large number of the Arabic world as well, we share the same opinion that Hezbollah is quite clearly a terrorist organization, whose goal is the eradication of Israel."The MP believes Israel has a firm right to exist."There have always been a substantial number of Jewish people and indeed Christians who have lived in Palestine," he said.

After WWII, he said the free nations of the West agreed to create the state of Israel for Jews fleeing persecution.

"But it has been a state that was there long before 1948. It is a democratic state just like other countries in the west."