JERUSALEM (VINnews) —British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak landed in Israel on Thursday morning in a show of solidarity for the Jewish State during its war against the Hamas terrorists.
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In a Thursday morning post on X, formerly Twitter, Sunak wrote, “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.”
At the bottom of his post he added the word, “solidariyut,” Hebrew for “solidarity.”
Sunak will also visit “a number of other regional capitals,” Downing Street says, without providing details. A statement by the prime minister’s office said that “Sunak will also stress that any civilian death is a tragedy and tell fellow leaders that, as an international community, we must not let Hamas’ barbaric terrorism and disregard for human life become a catalyst for further escalation of conflict in the region.”
Sunaks called the “attack” on a Gaza City hospital on Tuesday night “a watershed moment for leaders in the region and across the world to come together to avoid further dangerous escalation of conflict.”
“I will ensure the UK is at the forefront of this effort,” he added.
While Sunak is in Israel, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly will be in Egypt, Turkey and Qatar. Defense Secretary Grant Shapps met his US counterpart Lloyd Austin in Washington on Wednesday “to coordinate our response to the crisis,” according to the statement.
The British government has pledged its support for Israel following the brutal attacks by Hamas, which killed more than 1,300 people, mainly civilians, and has announced that the UK’s humanitarian aid to the Palestinians will be increased by a third — an extra £10 million pounds ($12 million).
Sunak began his meeting by visiting President Herzog at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem.
Later, Sunak will meet with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and family members of those kidnapped by Hamas.