Too many civilian lives have been lost: UK premier on Gaza

LONDON

The British prime minister on Monday said "too many civilian lives have been lost" in the conflict amid growing calls for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, where Israeli attacks have killed at least 18,800 Palestinians besides leaving a trail of destruction.

"It's clear that too many civilian lives have been lost and nobody wants to see this conflict go on a day longer than it has to," Rishi Sunak told reporters in Scotland.

Reiterating the UK's stance that Israel "has a right to defend itself," however, the premier added that it must do that in accordance with humanitarian law.

"That's why we've been consistent - and I made this point in parliament last week - in calling for a sustainable cease-fire, whereby hostages are released, rockets stop being fired into Israel by Hamas and we continue to get more aid in."

Last week, Sunak again refused to call for a cease-fire, rather said: "Nobody wants to see this conflict go on for a moment longer than necessary. We have been consistent that we support what is a sustainable cease-fire, which means Hamas must stop launching rockets into Israel and release all the hostages."

He said he had pushed Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu on the need for access to allow humanitarian needs into the strip.

"One of the things I spoke to Prime Minister Netanyahu about the other week was opening up another crossing so that we can get more aid into Gaza," he said.

Earlier this month, the UK chose to abstain on a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza that was only blocked by the US.

UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron, in a joint article with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, on Sunday called for a “sustainable” cease-fire in the Gaza conflict, as he warned that “too many civilians have been killed."