Rishi Sunak demands ALL women and children be freed by Hamas as all-out war in Gaza erupts again after truce expires
RISHI Sunak has demanded the immediate release of all women and children held by Hamas as the war in Gaza resumed in full force after the week-long truce.
The Prime Minister said the collapse of the truce was “deeply disappointing” but that he hoped the Qatar-led mediation efforts could resume.
He insisted the Government wanted all hostages to be released but that in this initial phase "all women and children should be freed".
During the week-long truce, Hamas and other militants in Gaza released more than 100 hostages, most of them Israelis, in return for 240 Palestinians freed from prisons in Israel.
Mediators Qatar and Egypt had tried to prolong the break in fighting by another two days but Israel restarted combat operations in the Gaza Strip minutes after the truce expired on Friday.
They blamed Hamas for violating the "operational pause” and firing towards Israeli territory.
Mr Sunak's comments came during a press conference at the Cop28 climate summit in Dubai, during which he also revealed the UK's plans to explore alternative routes for delivering aid to Gaza.
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He stressed "not enough" was reaching Gaza via Rafah and other border crossings.
The Prime Minister said: "We want all hostages released, and in this initial phase all women and children should be freed.
“I’ve said before that the number of civilian casualties and the scale of suffering has been far too high, so the return of hostilities is concerning to us all."
While he reiterated his support for Israel’s right to defend itself and pursue Hamas, he said he was “making it clear that Israel must take maximum care to protect civilian life” and supported civilian protection plans set out by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
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Mr Sunak added that the need to protect civilians had been a “consistent theme” of his discussions with regional leaders during the Dubai summit.
On aid, he said: "I strongly welcomed the pause in fighting to get hostages out and we've been using the opportunity to get more aid into Gaza.
"The UK has trebled its aid but still not enough is getting in via Rafah and other crossings.
"So we are actively exploring other routes including by sea."
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