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UK's Sunak Visits Israel, Will Warn against Gaza War Escalation

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak walks after landing at Ben Gurion International Airport in Lod, Near Tel Aviv, Israel October 19, 2023. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak walks after landing at Ben Gurion International Airport in Lod, Near Tel Aviv, Israel October 19, 2023. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
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UK's Sunak Visits Israel, Will Warn against Gaza War Escalation

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak walks after landing at Ben Gurion International Airport in Lod, Near Tel Aviv, Israel October 19, 2023. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak walks after landing at Ben Gurion International Airport in Lod, Near Tel Aviv, Israel October 19, 2023. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak arrived in Israel on Thursday to demonstrate solidarity with a country reeling from an Oct. 7 rampage by Hamas gunmen and to hold talks with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu.
With Israel's counter-offensive against Hamas in Gaza spiraling, Sunak will share his condolences for the loss of life in Israel and in the Palestinian enclave and warn against further escalation, his office said.
"Above all, I'm here to express my solidarity with the Israeli people. You have suffered an unspeakable, horrific act of terrorism and I want you to know that the United Kingdom and I stand with you," Sunak told Israeli reporters after landing.
Sunak was due to visit other regional capitals after Israel, said Reuters.
In an early statement, he said a Gaza hospital blast on Tuesday that caused mass Palestinian casualties should be "a watershed moment for leaders in the region and across the world to come together to avoid further dangerous escalation of conflict", adding that Britain would be at "the forefront of this effort".
Sunak will also urge the opening up of a route to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza from Egypt as soon as possible, and to enable British nationals trapped in Gaza to leave.
"Every civilian death is a tragedy. And too many lives have been lost following Hamas’ horrific act of terror," Sunak said.
At least seven British nationals have been killed and at least nine are still missing since the attack on Israel, Sunak's spokesperson said on Wednesday.
Alongside Sunak's visit, British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, who visited Israel last week, will travel to Egypt, Türkiye and Qatar over the next three days to discuss the conflict and seek a peaceful resolution, his office said.
Britain said the three countries were "vital to international efforts to uphold regional stability, free hostages and allow humanitarian access to Gaza".
Cleverly will meet with senior leaders there to discuss efforts to prevent the conflict spreading, the urgent need to open the Rafah crossing with Egypt to let aid reach those who need it and for Hamas to release hostages, Britain said.

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US Military: ISIS Attacks on Track to Double in Iraq, Syria Compared to Last Year

FILE - A motorist passes by a flag of ISIS in central Rawah, 281 kilometers northwest of Baghdad, Iraq, on July 22, 2014. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - A motorist passes by a flag of ISIS in central Rawah, 281 kilometers northwest of Baghdad, Iraq, on July 22, 2014. (AP Photo, File)
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US Military: ISIS Attacks on Track to Double in Iraq, Syria Compared to Last Year

FILE - A motorist passes by a flag of ISIS in central Rawah, 281 kilometers northwest of Baghdad, Iraq, on July 22, 2014. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - A motorist passes by a flag of ISIS in central Rawah, 281 kilometers northwest of Baghdad, Iraq, on July 22, 2014. (AP Photo, File)

The US Central Command said Wednesday that ISIS is trying "to reconstitute” as the number of attacks in Syria and Iraq is on track to double those of the previous year.

ISIS has claimed 153 attacks in both countries in the first six months of 2024, CENTCOM said in a statement. According to a US defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity as he wasn't allowed to speak publicly on the matter, the group was behind 121 attacks in Syria and Iraq in 2023.

“The increase in attacks indicates ISIS is attempting to reconstitute following several years of decreased capability,” The Associated Press quoted CENTCOM as saying.

A coalition of more than 80 countries, led by the United States, was formed to fight ISIS, which lost its hold on the territory it controlled in Iraq and 2017 and in Syria in 2019, although sleeper cells remain in both countries and abroad.

Iraqi officials say that they can keep ISIS threat under control with their own forces and have entered into talks with the US aimed at winding down the mission of the US-led military coalition in Iraq.
The talks come at a time of increased domestic tensions over the US military presence.

From October to February, an umbrella group of Iran-backed militias calling itself the Islamic Resistance in Iraq launched regular drone attacks on bases housing US troops in Iraq and Syria, which they said was in retaliation for Washington’s support of Israel in the ongoing war in Gaza and were aimed at forcing US forces to withdraw from Iraq.

Those attacks largely halted after three US soldiers were killed in a strike on a base in Jordan, near the Syrian border in late January, prompting US retaliatory strikes in Iraq.

On Tuesday, two Iraqi militia officials said they had launched a new drone attack targeting the Ain al-Asad air base in Iraq. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly. It was unclear whether the attack had hit its target. US officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.