UK PM Rishi Sunak heads to Israel for meetings with Netanyahu, Herzog

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will land in Israel at 9 a.m. on Thursday morning for meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog, Sunak’s office says.

Sunak will condemn Hamas’s “horrific act of terror” and express condolences for the “terrible loss of life in Israel and Gaza in the last two weeks as a result of Hamas’ brutal terrorist attacks,” according to the statement released ahead of his trip.

“Sunak will also stress that any civilian death is a tragedy and tell fellow leaders that, as an international community, we must not let Hamas’ barbaric terrorism and disregard for human life become a catalyst for further escalation of conflict in the region.”

Sunaks calls the “attack” on a Gaza City hospital on Tuesday night “a watershed moment for leaders in the region and across the world to come together to avoid further dangerous escalation of conflict.”

The explosion Tuesday evening at the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza sparked an uproar with terror group Hamas falsely blaming Israeli airstrikes. Israel has presented evidence that the deadly blast in the parking lot of the facility was caused by a misfired rocket launched by Palestinian terrorists.

On his visit to Israel, Sunak will push for humanitarian corridor into Gaza to open as soon as possible.

He’ll also visit “a number of other regional capitals,” Downing Street says, without providing details.

While Sunak is in Israel, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly will be in Egypt, Turkey and Qatar. Defense Secretary Grant Shapps met his US counterpart Lloyd Austin in Washington on Wednesday “to coordinate our response to the crisis,” according to the statement.