British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps told Sky News on Wednesday that asking Israel to reach a ceasefire with Hamas is "untenable", adding Israel has "a right" to "go after" Hamas after its terrorists killed more than 1,400 on October 7 and abducted over 220 others.
Shapps noted that he agreed with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak that it was "very important that we can deliver that [humanitarian] aid" to the Strip.
"The difference is we understand that Israel was attacked in a very brutal way by Hamas terrorists, butchering men, women and children ISIS-style," he told Sky News.
"I think to then ask Israel not to respond - or what you would describe as a ceasefire - I think is untenable,” added Shapps.
"They have a right to go after those terrorists but it is the international humanitarian situation that a pause could assist with," he explained.
Shapps noted that if there had been a terrorist attack in the UK on the same scale that Israel had endured, "no one would expect us not to go after the perpetrators".
"To call for a ceasefire is to essentially say to Israel, having gone through that absolutely horrific terrorist attack just over two weeks ago, don't go after Hamas - and I don't think anyone thinks that would be right," he told Sky News.
"And so we can understand and appreciate under international law that Israel has the absolute right to do that.
"We also believe that it needs to be done in a proportionate way with international human rights law in place and that is very clear," said Shapps.
The interview with the British Defense Secretary comes days after Sunak visited Israel in a show of solidarity following the Hamas massacre of October 7.
During the visit, Sunak met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and said, "We absolutely support Israel's right to defend itself, to go after Hamas, and to return its hostages."
"In direct contrast to Hamas, Israel is doing everything possible to avoid harming civilians. We thank you for that, and are increasing our aid to the region," he added, noting that "the Palestinian people are also victims of Hamas."