Britain’s deputy prime minister defends Israel’s right to protect itself amid growing tension between the Middle Eastern country and its biggest backers, but calls for an “immediate ceasefire” in Gaza on humanitarian grounds.
Oliver Dowden says the British government is “continuously” urging Israel to abide by international humanitarian law and had also raised concerns about getting aid into Gaza, where a humanitarian crisis is raging after six months of fighting in a war sparked by the devastating attack by the Hamas terror group on October 7.
“That’s why we are calling for an immediate ceasefire to allow that aid in, and crucially, the hostages to come out,” he tells Reuters in an interview in Seoul, where he is attending a US-backed Summit for Democracy.
Dowden’s comments came in response to a query about tension between Israel and the United States over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of the war, particularly an expected military push into Rafah, the Hamas terror group’s last remaining stronghold, where about a million Gazans evacuated from elsewhere in the Strip are sheltering.
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From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, March 19, 2024
