- Wednesday, February 26, 2025
Ahead of his visit, the British prime minister’s office said he will share his condolences for the loss of life in both Israel and Palestine and discourage further escalation.
By: Shubham Ghosh
A DAY after US president Joe Biden, prime minister Rishi Sunak reached Israel on Thursday (19) to discuss the country’s deadly ongoing war with Hamas, a Palestinian militant outfit.
Taking to X, Sunak said, “I am in Israel, a nation in grief”.
“I grieve with you and stand with you against the evil that is terrorism. Today, and always,” the Conservative leader, who backed Israel after Hamas launched coordinated attacks against it on October 7, triggering the devastating conflict that has left several thousands dead on both sides till now.
Ahead of his visit, the British prime minister’s office said he will share his condolences for the loss of life in both Israel and Palestine and discourage further escalation.
Sunak, who will complete a year in office in a week, is also expected to urge allowing humanitarian aid into Gaza from Egypt at the earliest and ensure that British nationals stranded in the volatile region can leave safely.
The leader also touched upon the horrific attack on a hospital in Gaza on Tuesday (17) saying it was a “watershed a watershed moment for leaders in the region and across the world to come together to avoid further dangerous escalation of conflict”.
At least 500 people lost their lives in a strike on al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza. Both Palestine and Israel blamed each other over the incident. The US backed Israel’s claim that the strike was caused by a misfired rocket that Hamas had fired towards the Jewish country.
Sunak’s visit, during which he would meet his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu and the country’s president, Isac Herzog, also followed that by German chancellor Olaf Scholz that preceded Biden. French president Emmanuel Macron is also likely to make a visit to the region.
The British prime minister will also reportedly visit various regional capitals during his two-day stay in the Middle East. It was though not clear which are the nations he would visit.
