Six Brits killed and 10 missing after Hamas attacks in Israel
Six British nationals were killed in Hamas’ ‘pogrom’ on Israel, Rishi Sunak has confirmed.
Families of at least 10 Brits still missing in Gaza attended Commons as the prime minister said some of them are believed to have been killed during the attack on October 7.
He told MPs that more than 1,400 people were murdered, some 3,500 wounded and almost 200 taken hostage.
‘The elderly, men, women, children, babes in arms, murdered, mutilated, burned alive,’ he continued. ‘We should call it by its name: it was a pogrom.
‘We have organised eight flights so far, bringing out over 500 people, with more flights leaving today,’ he said about evacuating nationals from Israel.
‘We are working with neighbouring countries on land evacuations for our citizens in Gaza and the West Bank.’
So far, the deaths of Dor Shafir, Bernard Cowan, Danny Darlington, Jake Marlowe and Nathanel Young were confirmed.
Families and friends have been paying tributes to the victims of Hamas as they grapple with the loss.
British diplomats have also been negotiating the return of hostages in the hope they make it out alive, but no progress has been reported.
Sunak said of British military personnel in the eastern Mediterranean: ‘We are not engaging in fighting or an offensive in Gaza, but we’re increasing our presence to prevent broader regional instability at this dangerous moment.’
On aid to Palestinians, he added: ‘I can announce today that we are increasing our aid by a third with an additional £10 million of support. An acute humanitarian crisis is unfolding to which we must respond.
‘We must support the Palestinian people because they are victims of Hamas too. Like our allies, we believe that Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people or their legitimate aspirations to live with equal measures of security, freedom, justice, opportunity and dignity.
‘Hamas simply does not stand for the future that the Palestinians want and they seek to put the Palestinian people in harm’s way. So we must ensure humanitarian support urgently reaches civilians in Gaza. This requires Egypt and Israel to allow in the aid that is so badly needed.
‘We also need to keep the situation in the West Bank in the forefront of our minds at this moment of heightened sensitivity.’
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