UK 'deeply concerned' over reports of Israeli operation in Rafah, Prime Minister Sunak says

LONDON

The UK is “deeply concerned” about reports of an Israeli military operation in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Monday.

“We're deeply concerned about reports about a military operation in Rafah, given its importance to a provision, so what we've been calling for is an immediate pause in hostilities so we can get more aid in and hostages out and then build the conditions for a sustainable cease-fire that remains the focus of all our diplomatic efforts,” Sunak told Sky News.

Also speaking to the same news outlet, Foreign Secretary David Cameron said his country is “very concerned” about what is happening in the region.

“We are very concerned about what is happening in Rafah, because, let's be clear: The people there, many of them who've moved four, five, six times before getting there. And it really, we think, is impossible, to see how you can fight a war amongst these people,” Cameron said.

'There's nowhere for them to go'

“There's nowhere for them to go. They can't go south into Egypt. They can't go north and back to their homes because many have been destroyed," he said. “So we are very concerned about the situation and we want Israel to stop and think very seriously before it takes any further action.”

Cameron said what the UK wants is “an immediate pause in the fighting and we want that pause to lead to a cease-fire, a sustainable cease-fire without a return to further fighting.”

“That's what should happen now. We need to get those hostages out including the British nationals. We need to get the aid in the best way to do that to stop the fighting now and turn that into a permanent sustainable cease-fire,” he added.