Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has announced that six British citizens have been killed in Hamas’s recent attacks on Israel, with 10 others missing. Families of some of the missing were present in Parliament on Monday as Sunak made his statement to MPs. He described the situation as an atrocity that struck at the very idea of Israel as a safe homeland for the Jewish people and called for the immediate release of 199 hostages taken by Hamas. He also confirmed that the UK was increasing its humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people by £10 million and had organised eight flights out of Israel for British citizens, with more to follow.
The prime minister spoke of the UK’s support for Israel and added that the UK had spoken to Egypt about opening the Rafah crossing to allow Palestinians to leave the area, where they are anticipating Israeli ground attacks. Palestinian civilians have been gathering at the crossing in the southern Gaza Strip. Sunak also addressed the British Muslim community, saying that they were appalled by Hamas’s actions but fearful of the response by Israel in Gaza and that Hamas was using innocent Palestinian people as human shields.
The escalation of the conflict has seen a “massive increase” in anti-Semitic incidents in London, according to the Metropolitan Police. However, Sunak assured MPs that extra government funding has been allocated to protect Jewish institutions in the UK. Meanwhile, the Labour leader Keir Starmer called for humanitarian corridors to allow the supply of food, water and electricity to the Gaza Strip and stressed that civilians must not be targeted.
The Prime Minister’s statement came in the midst of Hamas’s incursion into Israel ten days ago, during which more than 1,400 people were killed. In response, Israel has killed over 2,700 people in retaliatory strikes whilst blocking fuel, water, food and medical supplies from entering the territory. The humanitarian aid will be provided to civilians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, up from the £27m existing funding this year. Sunak emphasized that an acute humanitarian crisis is unfolding to which they must respond because the civilians are victims of Hamas, too
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