'Terrible' Israel-Hamas Conflict 'Must End', Says UK’s Sunak

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak briefs the press upon arrival at Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv, Israel, 18 October 2023. (EPA)
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak briefs the press upon arrival at Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv, Israel, 18 October 2023. (EPA)
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'Terrible' Israel-Hamas Conflict 'Must End', Says UK’s Sunak

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak briefs the press upon arrival at Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv, Israel, 18 October 2023. (EPA)
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak briefs the press upon arrival at Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv, Israel, 18 October 2023. (EPA)

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Saturday said the "terrible" war between Israel and Hamas "must end", six months on from the start of the conflict.

"We continue to stand by Israel's right to defeat the threat from Hamas and defend their security. But the whole of the UK is shocked by the bloodshed," he said in a statement.

"This terrible conflict must end. The hostages must be released. The aid –- which we have been straining every sinew to deliver by land, air and sea -– must be flooded in," he added.

Sunak said the children of Gaza needed a "humanitarian pause immediately, leading to a long-term sustainable ceasefire".

"That is the fastest way to get hostages out and aid in, and to stop the fighting and loss of life.

"For the good of both Israelis and Palestinians -- who all deserve to live in peace, dignity and security -- that is what we will keep working to achieve," he added.

The British government on Friday called for "utmost transparency" and a "wholly independent review" into the killing of seven aid workers in the Gaza Strip.

Three of the seven World Central Kitchen staff who died in an Israeli airstrike on Monday evening were British.

The deaths have also heaped pressure on the UK government to suspend arms export licences to Israel.

According to arms control groups, London has approved more than £487 million ($614 million) of weapons sales to Israel since 2015 in so-called single issue licences.

The British government, meanwhile, said a Royal Navy ship would be deployed to help get more aid into Gaza.

Alongside the deployment, Britain also announced a £9.7 million ($12.25 million) package for aid deliveries, logistical expertise and equipment support for a humanitarian corridor in the eastern Mediterranean between Cyprus and Gaza.

Foreign Secretary David Cameron said Britain and its allies needed to “explore all options” including sea and air deliveries to “ease the desperate plight of some of the world’s most vulnerable people” in the territory.

har/bc



Israel Is Ramping up Annexation of West Bank, UN Rights Chief Says 

Israeli army vehicles block a road during an Israeli military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, 14 March 2025. (EPA)
Israeli army vehicles block a road during an Israeli military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, 14 March 2025. (EPA)
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Israel Is Ramping up Annexation of West Bank, UN Rights Chief Says 

Israeli army vehicles block a road during an Israeli military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, 14 March 2025. (EPA)
Israeli army vehicles block a road during an Israeli military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, 14 March 2025. (EPA)

Israel has significantly expanded and consolidated settlements in the occupied West Bank as part of the steady integration of these territories into the State of Israel, in breach of international law, the UN human rights office said on Tuesday.

The report to be presented to the UN Human Rights Council later this month comes amid growing fears of annexation amid US policy shifts under President Donald Trump and new settler outposts in areas of the West Bank seen as part of a future Palestinian state.

"The transfer by Israel of parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies amounts to a war crime," UN High Commissioner Volker Turk said in a statement accompanying the report, urging the international community to take meaningful action on Israel’s advancing settlement.

"Israel must immediately and completely cease all settlement activities and evacuate all settlers, stop the forcible transfer of the Palestinian population, and prevent and punish attacks by its security forces and settlers," he said.

Israel disengaged from the UN Human Rights Council earlier this year, alleging a chronic anti-Israeli bias. Its military says it is conducting counter-terrorism operations in the West Bank and targeting suspected militants.