MEZIESBLOG

The director general of MI5 has said his intelligence officers are “focused with particular intensity” on a growing risk of attacks in the UK after events in the Middle East.

In a rare interview, Ken McCallum said: “Sadly, over the course of my career, it has often been the case that events in the Middle East can then echo in Europe, in the UK, and so my teams are absolutely alert to the possibility that events in the Middle East cause some people in the United Kingdom to attempt some form of attack of whatever sort.”

In his first remarks on the Israel-Hamas war and its global security repercussions, Mr McCallum also told Sky News:

• There is “sharpened concern” of multiple threats – from far-right antisemitism, Islamophobia, Islamist extremism, and rising state-level aggression – predominantly from China, Russia and Iran
• The national threat level – currently set at “substantial” – is under constant review to ensure it remains appropriate
• The world is a “very uncertain place right now”

Mr McCallum was speaking at an unprecedented public gathering of the heads of domestic intelligence agencies from the UK, United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand in California.

Palestinian UN envoy says Biden ‘cannot continue to support Israel’

The Palestinian envoy to the UN has said that Joe Biden “cannot continue supporting Israel unconditionally without considering the Palestinian people”.

Earlier Riyad Mansour, standing with Arab UN envoys, said they were all outraged by a deadly strike on a Gaza hospital and blamed Israel.

The Israelis have said the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group is responsible. 

“We condemn this act in the strongest possible terms and we hold Israel responsible for this massacre, this crime, and those responsible for this crime should face justice,” Mr Mansour said.