British Prime Minister Keir Starmer reiterated to President Isaac Herzog his “huge concern” over Gaza during the two leaders’ meeting in London on Wednesday, reported the Reuters news agency.
According to the report, Starmer implored Israel to change course on Gaza.
A spokesperson for Downing Street said Starmer told Herzog that Israel “must stop the manmade famine from worsening further by letting aid in and halting their offensive operations.”
Starmer also told the Israeli President that Britain and Israel are longstanding allies and that “he will continue his work to secure an enduring peace and a better future for the Israeli and Palestinian people alike.”
Herzog spoke after the meeting with Starmer and said that “Britain and Israel are friends, but among friends there are sometimes disagreements.”
He added, “I made clear that the United Kingdom’s stated intention to recognize a Palestinian state at this time would in no way help bring the hostages home, help the Palestinians, or help bring an end to the conflict. Instead it would embolden extremists across the Middle East and beyond. I voiced strong opposition to any notion of sanctions against the only democracy in the region, and I warned against the dangerous echoing of Hamas’s propaganda campaign of starvation in Gaza, even while 48 hostages remain in brutal captivity.”
“I stressed, too, that Israel’s struggle against the Iranian empire of evil and its terror proxies is the shared struggle of the free world, including Great Britain. Above all, I underlined that the immediate and unconditional release of the hostages is both a humanitarian necessity and the only first step on the road to peace,” said Herzog.