Rishi Sunak confirms 6 Britons dead and 10 missing after Hamas ‘pogrom’ in Israel – live
The PM’s statement will be followed by a Commons session where MPs will debate the UK’s involvement
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Your support makes all the difference.Rishi Sunak has provided an update on the number of Britons missing or killed as a result of the conflict in an address to Parliament today: 6 dead and ten missing.
It comes after the prime minister’s visit to a Jewish school in north London, where he repeated his belief that Israel has “every right to defend itself and its people to ensure that nothing like this ever happens again”.
He added that in his conversation with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he had also raised the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where 2,700 Palestinians have been killed and 9,700 people wounded in retaliatory airstrikes.
Mr Sunak’s statement to the Commons is expected to set out how the UK is aiding British nationals caught in the fighting and supporting Israel, as well as detailing the response to the impact on Palestinians trapped in the strip.
Hospitals across Gaza are expected to run out of fuel, while international aid is being held up in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula pending a deal to ensure its safe delivery.
Palestinian prime minister sobs at cabinet meeting telling story of mother killed in Gaza
Turkish parliament dumps Coke, Nestle from menus over alleged Israel support
Turkey’s parliament has removed Coca-Cola and Nestle products from its restaurants over the companies’ alleged support for Israel amid the conflict in Gaza, according to an official statement.
“The products of companies that support Israel will not be sold in restaurants, cafeterias and tea houses in the parliament campus,” Turkey’s Grand National Assembly said.
Speaker Numan Kurtulmus made the decision, it added, in order to “support public sensitivity regarding boycotting products of companies who have openly declared their support for Israel’s war crimes and killing of innocent people in Gaza”.
Zelensky cancels Israel visit over leaked plans
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky cancelled a planned visit to Israel today after news of his apparent trip was leaked to Israeli media over the weekend, according to reports.
Israeli newspaper The Times of Israel cited diplomatic sources as saying the Ukrainian president was still due to visit the country, but no date had been set.
“If President Zelensky comes, he will be welcomed with open arms,” an Israeli official was reported as saying. A Ukrainian diplomat previously told The Times that Mr Zelenskyy was “very disappointed” by the leak.
A Jewish man in California has died after getting into a confrontation during dueling protests over the Israel-Hamas war, authorities said. Paul Kessler, 69, died at a hospital on Monday, a day after he was struck during pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian demonstrations at an intersection in Thousand Oaks, a suburb northwest of Los Angeles, authorities said.
Witnesses said Kessler was involved in a “physical altercation” with one or more counter-protesters, fell backward and struck his head on the ground, according to a statement from the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department.
An autopsy Monday said Kessler died from a blunt force head injury and it was homicide, according to the Sheriff’s Department, which said investigators hadn’t ruled out the possibility that the act was a hate crime.
On X, leader of the Knesset opposition Yair Lapid claimed Mr Kessler died “because he was a Jew”.
Pictured: Gaza
Hamas 'broke ceasefire when it murdered 1,400 people', Israeli official says
Hamas “broke the ceasefire” when it “murdered 1,400 people and retreated back to the Gaza Strip”, a government spokesperson has said.
“There will be no ceasefire that leaves our hostages in Gaza and Hamas in power. Forget about it,” Israeli government spokesperson Eylon Levy said.
“We will fight to wipe out the perpetrators of the October 7 Massacre and to bring our hostages home.”
Defence minister says neither Israel nor Hamas will govern Gaza
Neither Israel nor Hamas would govern the Palestinian enclave once the ongoing war was over, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said on Tuesday.
In a televised news conference, Gallant said Israeli soldiers are operating in the heart of Gaza City - the stronghold of the Palestinian group Hamas.
Previously, a reformed Palestinian Authority or a multinational force have been suggested as solutions, but both proposals have met resistance.
Netanyahu refuses ceasefire until hostages returned
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has confirmed that Israel will not agree to a ceasefire until hostages have been returned home.
Speaking from the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv, Netanyahu said: “I am reiterating and I’m telling both my friends and my enemies: we will not have a ceasefire without the hostages back home.”
The Israeli military says that 242 people are being held hostage by Hamas. Four hostages have been released and another was freed by Israeli forces.
Netanyahu warns ‘we will not stop’
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeated a call on Tuesday for Palestinian civilians to move south for their own safety.
“I’m calling on the citizens of Gaza: please go south. I know you’re already doing that. Complete the move to the south because Israel will not stop. There’s no entry of workers and there will be no ceasefire without our hostages being back home,” Netanyahu said.
In a televised statement, Netanyahu said there would be no ceasefire or fuel delivery to Gaza before Hamas released Israeli hostages.
He added that Israel‘s military was encircling Gaza City and operating inside it as it pressed on with a month-long offensive against Hamas.
US says it does not support any forced relocation of Palestinians from Gaza
The United States does not support any forced relocation of Palestinians outside of Gaza, U.S. State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said on Tuesday.
Speaking at a daily news briefing, Patel also said Washington was opposed to any re-occupation of Gaza by Israel.
He was responding to a question about comments by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu telling ABC television Israel will “for an indefinite period” have the overall security responsibility for the Palestinian enclave.
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