The UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, had reaffirmed his unequivocal support towards Israel in the midst of the war against Hamas and deems “Hamas’ actions as barbaric”.
As tensions rose between Israel and Hamas in recent weeks, Boris Johnson had released a statement on 23rd May 2021 offering his support to the Israeli government. Johnson’s statement said that the UK is in “solidarity” with Israel amidst the ongoing conflict. He labelled Hamas’ actions as “absolutely barbaric and wrong” and stated that the UK “rejects utterly their use of indiscriminate violence”.
He highlighted the risks posed to innocent Israeli and Palestinian civilians as a result of the attacks and expressed the “dreadful concern” he had for them. Johnson also encouraged all sides of the conflict to abide by the international law. Regarding the ceasefire efforts, Johnson commented that the UK will do its utmost to facilitate the process and “pressures all sides to accept an immediate and unconditional de-escalation”.
Peace efforts were conducted to ease the tensions as the Prime Ministers of Egypt, Italy and Germany had pledged for an “immediate cessation of hostilities”. Despite the efforts, the situation had unfortunately escalated with a series of terroristic attacks by Hamas fighters and airstrikes by the Israeli military. This only serves to increase the severity of the conflict and had taken numerous lives of innocent civilians in both sides.
The Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, had also declared that the nation “will continue to carry out strikes against terrorists” and would “not hesitate to take whatever action is necessary” to protect Israeli civilians. This was in response to US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken’s, call for an “immediate ceasefire”.
In conclusion, Boris Johnson’s statement reflects the official position of the UK in terms of solidarity with Israel in their conflict against Hamas. The statement stands firm in condemning Hamas’ acts of terror and the Prime Minister had madehis intentions clear in pushing for an immediate and unconditional cessation of hostilities.