On Thursday, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak travelled to Israel to conduct meetings with Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu and show support for a nation still recovering from a shooting spree by Hamas militants on October 7.
Sunak will offer his sympathies for the deaths in Israel and the Palestinian enclave and caution against further escalation as Israel’s counteroffensive against Hamas in Gaza spirals out of control, according to his office.
After reaching there, Sunak talked to reporters, saying, “Above all, I’m here to express my solidarity with the Israeli people. You have suffered an unspeakable, horrific act of terrorism and I want you to know that the United Kingdom and I stand with you.”
After Israel, Sunak was scheduled to tour other capital cities in the area.
He declared in an early statement that Tuesday’s catastrophic explosion in a Gaza hospital, which resulted in numerous Palestinian casualties, should be seen as “a watershed moment for leaders in the region and across the world to come together to avoid further dangerous escalation of conflict” and that Britain would be “the forefront of this effort”. “Every civilian death is a tragedy. And too many lives have been lost following Hamas’ horrific act of terror,” he added.
Sunak will also advocate for the earliest possible opening of a conduit to allow humanitarian supplies into Gaza from Egypt and to allow British people who are stranded in Gaza to escape.
Following the assault on Israel, at least seven British people have died and at least nine are still unaccounted for, according to a spokesman for Sunak on Wednesday.
In addition to Sunak, British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly—who was in Israel last week—will visit Egypt, Turkey, and Qatar in the coming three days to talk about the dispute and look for a peaceful conclusion, according to his office.
“Vital to international efforts to uphold regional stability, free hostages and allow humanitarian access to Gaza,” according to Britain, the three nations are.
Cleverly is scheduled to meet with top authorities there to talk about measures to stop the crisis from getting worse, the pressing need to open the Rafah crossing with Egypt so that help may reach people in need, and the release of captives by Hamas, according to the British.
