LONDON: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told Israel’s President Isaac Herzog there needed to be “immediate steps” toward a ceasefire in Israel’s conflict with Hamas militants in Gaza.
“The Prime Minister said there must be immediate steps toward a ceasefire, so that hostages can be released and more humanitarian aid can get in for those in desperate need,” Starmer’s office said in a statement released on Sunday.
“The Prime Minister reiterated his ongoing support for Israel’s right to self-defense in accordance with international law,” the statement said.
Starmer met Herzog in Paris where both were attending the Olympics.
In a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on July 7 shortly after Starmer took office, he “set out the clear and urgent need for a ceasefire,” according to a previous British government statement.
Starmer on Sunday said there was no moral equivalence between Israel and Hamas and expressed his condolences for the deaths of five hostages kidnapped during the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7 whose bodies had recently been recovered.
About 1,200 people were killed and 250 were taken hostage in the Oct. 7 attack, according to Israeli tallies.
More than 39,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli offensive in Gaza, according to local health authorities, who do not distinguish between fighters and non-combatants.
‘Immediate steps’ needed toward Gaza ceasefire, UK’s Starmer tells Israel’s President Herzog
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‘Immediate steps’ needed toward Gaza ceasefire, UK’s Starmer tells Israel’s President Herzog
- Starmer met Herzog in Paris where both were attending the Olympic Games
EU, UK call on Israel to stop settler attacks on Palestinians in West Bank
- Israeli human rights group: ‘These criminal and deadly attacks are carried out with the backing of the state’
- EU spokesperson: ‘Impunity for such acts risks provoking further violence’
LONDON: Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank must cease attacks on local Palestinians, Western politicians have said.
The UK and EU both condemned the rise in settler violence since the outbreak of hostilities between Israel and Iran on Feb. 28.
Six Palestinians have been killed by settlers in the 12 days since the start of the war, according to the UN.
Israeli human rights group Yesh Din said it had recorded 109 separate incidents of violence committed by settlers at 62 sites in the West Bank during the war’s opening 10 days. Both the UK and EU urged Israeli authorities to halt further attacks.
Three Palestinians died on Sunday in the village of Khirbet Abu Falah after armed settlers attacked it with guns before dawn, Reuters reported.
Palestinian health authorities said local residents Thaer Hamayel, 24, and his cousin, Farea Hamayel, 57, both died after being shot in the head.
A third man, Mohammed Murra, 55, died after going into cardiac arrest, having inhaled tear gas fired by the Israeli military.
The previous day, 28-year-old Amir Shanaran died after being shot by settlers at Wadi Al-Rakhim, local health authorities said. His brother Khaled Shanaran was seriously wounded.
On March 2, Mohammed Azem, 51, and his brother Fahim, 47, were shot dead by settlers at Qaryut, Israeli human rights group B’Tselem said.
In a statement, Yesh Din said: “These criminal and deadly attacks are carried out with the backing of the state and almost complete impunity, advancing Israel’s objective of forcibly displacing Palestinians and annexing the West Bank.”
Palestinian Authority Vice President Hussein Al-Sheikh on Sunday denounced the “major escalation of settler terrorism.”
An EU spokesperson said “impunity for such acts risks provoking further violence,” and called on Israel to “abide by its obligations under international law to protect the Palestinian population in the occupied territory.”
The UK’s consulate-general in Jerusalem said in a statement that the Israeli military must respond to settler violence with “swift, thorough investigations and accountability for those responsible,” adding: “Settler violence which terrorises communities must be stop
