Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu accuses Hamas of trying to derail Middle East peace process

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that the Middle East peace process was being thwarted by the Hamas onslaught on Israel on Thursday and urged British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to continue backing Israel’s counteroffensive in Gaza.

Sunak is the most recent representative of a Western country to travel to Jerusalem in an effort to support Israel, facilitate negotiations for the release of hostages held by Hamas, and facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gazans.

According to Sunak’s spokesperson, the British prime minister will go to Saudi Arabia later on Thursday to meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. According to sources, Saudi Arabia has suspended U.S.-supported initiatives to normalise relations with Israel.

Netanyahu claimed that a Palestinian strike from Gaza by Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, which killed 1,400 people in Israel, was aimed at derailing attempts to establish a wider peace in the region.

“We were on the cusp of expanding that peace, and destroying that move was one of the reasons why this action was taken,” Netanyahu told Sunak at their meeting in Jerusalem.

“This is our darkest hour,” he added. “That means that this is a long war, and we’ll need your continuous support.”

Sunak spoke with Israeli President Isaac Herzog before meeting Netanyahu. He expressed his appreciation for the decision to permit aid to enter Gaza and stated that he was aware that Israel was “taking every precaution to avoid harming civilians in direct contrast to the terrorists of Hamas”.

Prior to this, Sunak and Herzog emphasised the need to prevent an uptick in violence in the area, which has provoked protests in certain nations and led to an explosion at a hospital in Gaza that Palestinians accuse Israel of being responsible for.

President Joe Biden of the United States stated that American evidence backed up Israel’s claim that the event was brought on by a botched rocket launch by Palestinian fighters. Israel has denied carrying out the attack.

The British government, according to Sunak’s spokeswoman, was still awaiting a security report before offering its opinion.

“We will stand with you in solidarity with your people and your right to defend yourself, to bring security back to your country, to your people, to ensure the safe return of the hostages that have been taken,” Sunak said in a televised part of the meeting with Herzog.

“Palestinians are victims of what Hamas has done. It’s important that we continue to provide humanitarian access.”

According to Sunak’s spokesperson, since the attack on Israel, at least nine British people have gone missing and at least seven have been dead. At least two of the missing individuals were kept captive in Gaza, she added.

As part of coordinated efforts with his foreign minister James Cleverly, who is currently in Egypt and will visit Turkey and Qatar over the next three days, Sunak is scheduled to travel to Saudi Arabia.

Foreign ministers from Turkey and Qatar will also be welcomed by Cleverly, who visited Israel last week. According to Britain, these nations are “vital to international efforts to uphold regional stability, free hostages, and allow humanitarian access to Gaza.”

The flurry of diplomatic activity contrasts with what some analysts claim has been a decade of waning British influence in the Middle East, with London being perceived as a junior partner of the United States.

David Cameron, the most recent British prime minister, travelled to Israel and the West Bank in 2014. A ministerial position overseeing connections with the Middle East was secretly eliminated by the government in 2022, replacing it with one that included relations with North Africa, South Asia, and the UN.

(With agency inputs)