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RISHI SUNAK was condemned today for telling his Israeli counterpart that “we want you to win” just days after a hospital was bombed in Gaza.
The Prime Minister met Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog in Tel Aviv today to show “solidarity” with Israel following the Hamas attack and amid its offence against civilians in Gaza.
He thanked Mr Netanyahu for the country’s support in attempting to free British nationals who are reportedly being held hostage by Hamas.
Mr Sunak followed US President Joe Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s lead in travelling to Israel to personally offer support to the country, despite calls from international human rights organisations on world leaders to demand an end to the bombardment of Gaza.
In a press conference following the meeting, Mr Sunak said: “I want to thank you for the support that your government has given to the families of British nationals caught up in this horror, including your efforts to release the hostages, to secure their release.
“And I know that we will continue to co-operate, particularly with regard to British nationals that are involved.”
He also welcomed Mr Netanyahu’s decision to allow Israel to start letting aid into Gaza.
Mr Sunak said Britain will seek to get “more support to people as quickly as we can” as he reiterated that Palestinians living under Hamas rule in Gaza are also victims.
In his own address, Mr Netanyahu recalled Britain’s part in the second world war as he urged “continuous” support during a conflict that he said is likely to have “ups and downs.”
Mr Sunak said he was “proud to stand here with you in Israel’s darkest hour as your friend.”
He added: “We will stand with you in solidarity, we will stand with your people. And we also want you to win.”
Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) said that Mr Sunak’s comments were “providing endorsement for Israel to continue its massacres.”
The group warned that scores of people are being killed by Israel’s bombardment every day, and that Gaza remains without fuel, electricity and water.
Hospitals are without basic supplies and in a state of near collapse, they told the Star.
PSC director Ben Jamal said: “If the only purpose of Rishi Sunak’s visit to Israel is to show solidarity with a state that has for decades oppressed Palestinians under military occupation and a system of apartheid, he should have cancelled his visit.
“To do so in the midst of Israeli massacres against civilians and the deliberate deprivation of basic necessities of life in Gaza is a grotesque inversion of humanitarian principles.”
Mr Jamal said the PM was “endorsing the complete abandonment of international law and the committing of war crimes.”
“The only useful thing his visit could achieve would be to insist Israel call a ceasefire, end the siege of Gaza and allow full humanitarian aid to reach the people of Gaza,” he said.
“That he won’t do so is to his eternal shame.”
On Wednesday night, thousands of people gathered outside Downing Street in an emergency vigil following the explosion at al-Ahli Arab Baptist Hospital in Gaza, which killed some 500 people, including injured children.
Israel has blamed Hamas for the attack despite earlier claiming responsibility online in since-deleted official posts, but its claims could not be verified.
Downing Street said Britain’s intelligence services are still “reviewing the facts available.”
Addressing the vigil, Stop the War Coalition officer Shabbir Lakha said: “We will remember every Palestinian killed in the hospital… But we will also remember every person who justified this massacre.
“We know that Israel cannot do what it does to the Palestinian people without British support and British bombs. 10 Downing Street is dripping with Palestinian blood.”
He called on the public to join the national march for Palestine tomorrow October 21 from noon at Marble Arch, London.