‘Significant number’ of British-Israelis caught up in Hamas attack, James Cleverly says
A “significant number” of British-Israelis have been caught up in the attack by Hamas, James Cleverly has said.
The foreign secretary said he couldn’t give “exact numbers”, but told LBC Radio: “I don’t really want to speculate but we do know that a significant number of British-Israeli dual nationals have been in some way involved in the terrorist atrocities.
“We will stand ready to support families of those people who are either concerned or have family or loved ones who have been injured in any way.”
“The situation is fast-moving… even from the Israeli government, a lot of the figures about the casualties and fatalities are as yet to be fully confirmed,” Cleverly added.
His comments come after Palestinian militant group Hamas sent fighters across the border to Israel and fired thousands of rockets in an unprecedented attack on Saturday.
More than 900 people have been killed in Israel according to the Israeli military, while authorities in Gaza say more than 680 have been killed in the territory. Dozens more have been taken hostage by Hamas.
Cleverly said the government was “standing ready” to support any British citizens who need to leave Israel. There are no current plans for a UK state-backed evacuation effort.
But the senior politician told ITV: “We are working with the air industry and Israeli air traffic control to ensure that there are still commercial flights leaving Israel for those Brits who want to leave, and of course there are land borders from Israel into both Egypt and Jordan.”
Speaking on the morning broadcast round, where a government minister appears on several breakfast TV and radio news programmes to discuss the issues of the day, Cleverly admitted the situation in Gaza was “very difficult”, but did not say what support the UK could provide.
He added there was no “equivalence” between the response by Israel to the attack by Hamas and the assault by the Palestinian militants over the weekend.
“The idea that somehow there is an equivalence, there is a kind of a balancing act between the actions of the Israeli government and their self defence, and the actions of Hamas and their terrorists, is completely inappropriate,” he told Sky News.
“I wouldn’t want to do anything which would imply that to be the case. Of course, we want to see the minimisation of loss of life.”
He also urged supporters of Palestine to stay at home after hundreds of protesters gathered at the Israeli embassy in London, let off fireworks and chanted “Israel is a terrorist state”.
Thousands attended a Jewish community vigil and police separated pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian groups.
Cleverly said protests were causing fear to the Jewish community, and added: “There is no necessity for people to come out. It causes distress. This is a difficult, delicate situation.”
Press Association – Patrick Daly and Dominic McGrath