The British prime minister told Netanyahu that UK “absolutely supports” Israel’s right to defend itself and wants it to win this war.
UK PM Rishi Sunak and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu during their joint statement. (Photo: X/BenjaminNetanyahu)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Thursday said that “Hamas are the new Nazis” and urged continuous support from UK PM Rishi Sunak in their “long war” against Hamas.
In a joint statement with Sunak, who arrived in Tel Aviv earlier today, Netanyahu said, “…this is a long war and we’ll need your continuous support. There’ll be ups and downs and difficulties. The people here are united… We need that unity across the board and continuous support.”
Netanyahu thanked Sunak for standing behind Israel in its “difficult hour” and termed his wartime visit to the country “a strong statement of support”.
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Sunak is the latest western leader to visit Israel after US President Joe Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz earlier this week.
The British prime minister told Netanyahu that UK “absolutely supports” Israel’s right to defend itself and wants it to win this war.
“We will stand with you in solidarity, we will stand with your people. And we also want you to win,” Sunak told Netanyahu in a televised joint statement.
The UK further added that he knows Israel is “taking every precaution to avoid harming civilians in direct contrast to the terrorists of Hamas which seek to put civilians in harm’s way”.
He said that Palestinian people are also the victims of Hamas and welcomed Israel’s decision to allow humanitarian aid to reach Gaza. Sunak also mourned the deaths of nearly 470 Gazans in the al-Ahli hospital bombing, that Israel claims, was a result of an errant militant missile.
The Israeli military and Hamas are locked in a deadly war in Gaza following the brutal October 7 attack by Hamas militants in which more than 1,400 people, including Israeli children, women, soldiers and more than 175 foreign nationals, were killed.
In response, Israel declared a war against Hamas and blocked water, food, fuel and electricity supply to the Gaza Strip. More than 3,700 people, mostly Hamas militants, have died in Israeli air strikes since October 7.
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