Rishi Sunak will arrive in Israel on Thursday, commencing a two-day journey to the broader area amid rising issues the battle with Hamas may escalate.
The prime minister will maintain a gathering with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog on Thursday morning, earlier than travelling to a lot of different regional capitals in a diplomatic bid to stop combating from spiralling.
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Downing Street didn’t specify precisely the place the prime minister would go after Israel, however stated he can be assembly counterparts “from across the Middle East”.
In his conferences he’ll press for the route into Gaza to be open for the supply of humanitarian assist and the exit of these trapped within the territory, whereas expressing his condolences for victims on each facet of the battle.
His departure got here as President Biden stated Egypt’s President Sisi had agreed to open the Rafah crossing to permit 20 vans of assist into Gaza.
Ahead of the journey, Mr Sunak stated: “Every civilian death is a tragedy. And too many lives have been lost following Hamas’s horrific act of terror.
“The assault on al Ahli hospital needs to be a watershed second for leaders within the area and the world over to come back collectively to keep away from additional harmful escalation of battle. I’ll make sure the UK is on the forefront of this effort.”
On Tuesday a huge blast ripped through the al Ahli hospital in Gaza City where hundreds of Palestinians had taken refuge amid an Israeli siege of the Gaza Strip in the wake of Hamas’s deadly surprise attack on 7 October.
Hamas officials claimed the hospital blast killed hundreds of people and was caused by an Israeli air strike – but the Israeli military blamed a misfiring rocket from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group and released imagery and communications intercepts aimed at supporting their case.
Mr Sunak’s trip comes after US President Joe Biden travelled to Tel Aviv on Tuesday, where he sided with Mr Netanyahu that the hospital strike appeared not to have been caused by Israel but “by the opposite group”.
But Mr Sunak – who held talks with the National Security Adviser and the chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee on Wednesday morning – said he would not “rush to judgement earlier than we have now all of the details on this terrible state of affairs”.
Sky News reported on Tuesday that the prime minister may go to Israel this week, however Downing Street has solely simply confirmed this.
His journey will run in parallel with a visit by Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, who will meet leaders in Egypt, Turkey and Qatar over the subsequent three days in a bid to assist forestall the battle spreading and to hunt a peaceable decision.
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Mr Cleverly stated: “It is in no one’s interests – neither Israeli, Palestinian nor the wider Middle East – for others to be drawn into this conflict.
“I’m assembly counterparts from influential states within the area to push for calm and stability, facilitate humanitarian entry into Gaza and work collectively to safe the discharge of hostages.”
Mr Cleverly has forged doubt on the feasibility of a ceasefire, which dozens of cross-party MPs have referred to as for as meals, water, medication and different provides run low in Gaza.
Israel stated on Wednesday it could permit Egypt to ship restricted portions of humanitarian assist to the realm – a choice which was accredited in mild of Mr Biden’s request throughout his go to.
Mr Sunak will press for that to allow the UK to ship the £10m uplift in humanitarian assist introduced earlier this week, and to allow British nationals trapped in Gaza to go away.
At least seven British nationals, together with 13-year-old Yahel Sharabi, had been killed within the Hamas raids on Israel whereas 9 UK nationals stay lacking – a few of whom are feared lifeless or among the many hostages taken again to the Gaza Strip.
Source: information.sky.com”