UK’s Sunak visits Israel, will warn against Gaza war escalation

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak landed in Israel on Thursday, beginning a visit in which he will meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog before travelling on to other regional capitals.
Sunak will share his condolences for the loss of life in Israel and Gaza as a result of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Gaza-based Palestinian Hamas gunmen, his office said, and warn against further escalation of conflict in the region.
Sunak said in a statement ahead of his visit, “Every civilian death is a tragedy. And too many lives have been lost following Hamas’ horrific act of terror.”
He said a deadly blast at a Gaza hospital on Tuesday which killed hundreds of Palestinians should be “a watershed moment for leaders in the region and across the world to come together to avoid further dangerous escalation of conflict”, pledging 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.