British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has arrived in Israel, a Downing Street spokesman confirmed on Thursday morning.
Sunak will visit Israel and several other capitals in the region on Thursday to call for an end to the escalation of the war between Hamas and the Jewish state, his office announced on Wednesday evening.
"The attack on the Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza "should be a defining moment for leaders in the region and around the world to come together to prevent a further dangerous escalation in the region", Rishi Sunak said in a statement.
"I will ensure that the UK is at the forefront of this effort. Every civilian death is a tragedy... too many lives have been lost as a result of Hamas's atrocious act of terrorism", he also said.
During his two-day tour, Sunak is expected to stress that the international community must "not allow Hamas's barbaric terrorism and disregard for human life to become the catalyst for an escalation of conflict in the region", according to a Downing Street statement.
Expected in Israel early on Thursday morning, Rishi Sunak is due to meet his counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli President Isaac Herzog. He is also expected to insist that humanitarian aid, which London recently announced would be increased for the Palestinians, be allowed to arrive at a time when Israel has authorised the entry of aid into Gaza from Egypt, and that Britons stranded in Gaza be allowed to leave.
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Alongside the British Prime Minister's trip, his Foreign Secretary James Cleverly is due to visit Egypt, Turkey and Qatar "in the coming days", according to Downing Street. London has pledged its support for Israel and has also announced that the UK's humanitarian aid to the Palestinians will be increased by a third, in real terms an extra £10 million (€11.5 million).
In retaliation for these attacks, the deadliest to hit Israel since its creation in 1948, the Hebrew state has been relentlessly bombing the small, overpopulated territory of Gaza, where at least 3,478 people have been killed, most of them Palestinian civilians, according to the local authorities.
