Note to reader: We wanted to give you a trigger warning on what you may read below. We have chosen, as with every night of these briefings, to not share horrific images, however we want to alert you as sensitively as we can to the reports coming out of Israel.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak labels Hamas attack “a pogrom”
This afternoon, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak gave a statement to the House of Commons on Hamas, calling their attack on Israel “a pogrom“. Families of victims sat in the Members Gallery to listen. An hour beforehand, both Houses observed a one-minutes silence “in recognition of all those innocent Israelis, Palestinians and others who have lost their lives, all those taken hostage and those affected by this conflict in the region”.
The Prime Minister called for “an immediate release of all hostages”, and announced “with a heavy heart, I can inform the House that at least six British citizens were killed. A further 10 are missing, some of whom are feared to be among the dead. We are working with Israel to establish the facts as quickly as possible, and we are supporting the families who are suffering unimaginable pain”.
The Prime Minister also noted that the UK has organised eight flights so far to bring UK citizens in Israel back to the UK.
On antisemitism, the Prime Minister declared that “this atrocity [committed by Hamas] was an existential strike at the very idea of Israel as a safe homeland of the Jewish people. I understand why it has shaken you to your core. And I am sickened that antisemitic incidents have increased since the attacks. We are doing everything we can to protect you. We are providing an additional £3 million for the Community Security Trust to protect schools, synagogues, and other Jewish community buildings. And we are working with the police to ensure that hate crime and the glorification of terror is met with the full force of the law. I know the whole house will support this – and join me in saying unequivocally: We stand with the Jewish community”.
“Hamas is using innocent Palestinian people as human shields – with the tragic loss of more than 2,600 Palestinian lives, including many children. We mourn the loss of every innocent life – civilians of every faith, every nationality who has been killed. And so let’s say it plainly: we stand with British Muslim communities too”.
On the Abraham Accords and normalisation in the Middle East, the Prime Minister noted that “one reason why this attack is so shocking is that it is a fundamental challenge to any idea of coexistence. Which is an essential precursor to peace and stability in the region”.
The Prime Minister also announced an additional £10 million of aid to the Palestinian people, an increase of a third, understanding that “they’re 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 Palestinians want. And they seek to put the Palestinian people in harm’s way”, he added.
“We must ensure humanitarian support urgently reaches civilians in Gaza”, the Prime Minister declared.
Members of the House joined the Prime Minister in a two-hour session condemning Hamas. Conservative MPs including CFI’s Parliamentary Chairman (Commons) Stephen Crabb MP, former Prime Minister Theresa May, and former Defence Secretary Liam Fox all spoke.
CFI Chairman (House of Commons) Rt Hon Stephen Crabb thanked the Speaker of the House for “the step that [he] took at the beginning of last week in lighting up this Palace in the colours of blue and white as an act of solidarity with the Israeli victims of Hamas terrorism”. He asked the Prime Minister if he agreed that “after the acts of barbarism by Hamas, there is no going back to the situation before where, right under the noses of the international community, Hamas were allowed to rearm time and again? They were allowed to misappropriate aid into terrorist infrastructure, building those tunnels, amassing armaments and hiding them behind civilian families”.
Vice-Chair of CFI, Andrew Percy MP declared that “every tragic loss of life in Gaza is the responsibility of Hamas alone”.
Vice-Chair of CFI, Theresa Villiers MP, commented on “the anguish felt about the worst attack on Jewish people since the holocaust”. She asked for the Prime Minister to “ensure that the unequivocal support for Israel that he has expressed today is maintained and does not weaken in the difficult days ahead as Israel does what it has to do to remove the capacity of Hamas ever to do this again”.
CFI Officer Nicola Richards MP described being “brought to tears listening to Hannah Lewis, a Holocaust survivor”, at Conference two weeks ago. “Five days later, Holocaust survivors were kidnapped or killed, babies were slaughtered, women my age were raped next to the bodies of their friends and then killed, and hostages were paraded through the streets of Gaza and spat on”. She asked the Prime Minister to join her in “utterly condemning the acts of Hamas and in saying that we will never forget and that “never again” really does mean never again?”
CFI Officer Dr Matthew Offord MP paid tribute to British-Israeli Nethanel Young who was killed by Hamas. He relayed that “in 2013, [he] took a group of schoolchildren from the Beit Shvidler Primary School in Edgware to the Hanukkah party at No. 10. A leading voice of the choir was Nathanel Young, one of the first people to be killed in the terrorist attack in Israel”. Dr Offord asked the Prime Minister “what actions have been taken for the bereaved families and the families of the 17 hostages who remain in Gaza, and what consular support” would it entail?
The Rt Hon Theresa May declared that “the attack on Israel by Hamas terrorists was barbaric”. She also commended the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary “for the stance that the Government have taken in support of the Jewish community here in the UK, and in support of Israel and its right to defend itself”.
The Rt Hon Nadhim Zahawi noted that “Israel has to take the necessary steps to root out this evil virus of fundamentalism that has so clearly infested those in Hamas and, of course, destroy it. Just as we stood together against ISIS, we will stand together again”.
Sir Michael Ellis praised “The Prime Minister’s support for the Jewish community in this country and for Israel” as “heroic”. “This is an historic moment, and the response of His Majesty’s Government has been all anyone could have asked”, he added.
This morning Prime Minister Rishi Sunak visited north-London Jewish secondary school JCOSS “to offer [his] condolences and stand in solidarity with them”. The Prime Minister signed a card exclaiming that his “heart aches for the people of Israel”. He promised that “we will stand with Israel and the Jewish community in the UK, not just today, not just tomorrow, but always”.
On Friday night, 10 Downing Street lit a Yahrzeit candle “remembering the men, women and children senselessly murdered by Hamas terrorists. May their memory be a blessing”. “We stand with Israel and in solidarity with the Jewish community in the UK and across the world in this time of grief”, Downing Street added.
Speaking to the BBC on Sunday, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said that “we recognise the Palestinian people are suffering because of the actions of Hamas, as well as Israelis with the most brutal attack for decades, an unprecedented level of attack. So we are very, very clear that Hamas are causing deaths and pain to Israelis as well as Palestinians”.
He noted that “water pipes, rather than being used to pump water around Gaza, are being turned into rockets to fire into Israel”.
“We want to minimise Palestinian casualties, we want to minimise Israeli casualties, we want everybody to respect civilians, but the real clear distinction is Israel are trying to get civilians out of danger, Hamas are trying to put civilians into danger and that is a fundamental difference between the two”, he added.
Over 1,400 Israelis have been killed and over 4,000 injured by Hamas in a deadly massacre of men, women, and children,
The attack, carried out on Saturday 7th October also included the abduction of over 199 Israeli hostages into Gaza. Abu Obeida, spokesperson for Hamas’ military wing claimed that Hamas was holding over 200 Israelis hostage. He added that Hamas is also holding “captives of other nationalities, and will release them when circumstances allow”.
Over 6,600 rockets have been fired towards Israel from Gaza since Saturday 7th October including a barrage this afternoon towards Tel Aviv and Jerusalem whilst Israel’s Knesset was in session.
In his Knesset address, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that “we are obligated to the families, and we will not tire until we return all the kidnapped people”. “Our goal is victory and the elimination of Hamas”, he added.
There has been repeated rocket fire from Lebanon including anti-tank missile attacks for the past week, as well as five infiltration attempts. Yesterday, an anti-tank missile was directed at the residential neighbourhood of Shtula, killing a 40-year-old Israeli civilian – the first civilian to be killed by Hezbollah since Hamas’ deadly attack. An IDF soldier was also killed yesterday by an anti-tank missile fired towards Zarit. Overall, 6 Israelis have been killed on Israel’s northern border over the past week. This morning, the IDF evacuated 28 communities on its northern border within two kilometres of the Lebanese border.
In total, Israel has evacuated hundreds of thousands of people from its northern and southern borders to central Israel.
This evening, Iranian state TV warned of “pre-emptive action” against Israel in the coming hours. Iranian Foreign Minister, Hossein Amirabdollahian, said that “Leaders of the Resistance will not allow the Zionist regime to take any action in Gaza”.
According to the Hamas-run health ministry 2,750 people have been killed and 9,000 injured.
The Israel Airforce (IAF) continue to carry out airstrikes on Hamas targets in response to Hamas’ deadly attack.
The IDF today confirmed that they have killed key operatives of Hamas including Ali Qadi –Commander of Hamas’ Nukhba Jabalya Assault Company, Muetaz Eid – Commander of the Hamas Southern District of National Security, Belal Alqadra – Commanderof the Nukhba Southern Khan Yunis Assault Company, Merad Abu Merad – Head of the Hamas Aerial Array in Gaza Coty, Zachariah Abi Ma’amar – Head of the International Relations office in Hamas’ Political Bureau, and Joad Abu Shmalah – Hamas Minister od Economy in the Gaza Strip.
On Friday, a group of Israeli troops entered Gaza in a “localised raid” to recover Israelis killed by Hamas in last week’s massacre. It has not been confirmed how many bodies the IDF were able to retrieve and bring back to Israel.
The IDF are preparing for a ground invasion and have called on Gazan civilians to evacuate their homes in the northern Gaza strip. Over the weekend the IDF created a humanitarian corridor for Gazans travelling south, which was blockaded by Hamas, trying to get civilians to stay in their homes and act as human shields.
Israel’s Energy Minister, Yisrael Katz, announced the resumption of water supplied to southern Gaza over the weekend. Israel reportedly provides 6% of the total water used by Gazans – amounting to around one-third of its drinking water.
The Rafah crossing, between Egypt and Gaza was also set to open today to allow dual-nationals to leave the Gaza strip. Five United Nations food trucks this evening entered the Gaza Strip.
In a now deleted online statement, UNRWA, The United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees, revealed that medical equipment and 24,000 litres of fuel were stolen from their compound in Gaza: “Yesterday a group of people with trucks purporting to be from the Ministry of Health of the de facto authorities in Gaza, removed fuel and medical equipment from the Agency’s compound in Gaza City”.
Over the weekend tens of thousands marched in cities across the UK in support of Palestinians. Footage showed a number of Hamas flags being waved, and attendees charting “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” which is seen by many as a call for Israel’s destruction. Protestors also chanted “Kyber Khyber Ya Yahud” – a call for the death of Jews referencing the Jewish massacre of 628BC. Two women were also photographed with images of paragliders taped to their backs – which were used as part of Hamas’ attack.
During this difficult time please consider donating to Magen David Adom’s urgent appeal https://mdauk.org/
Please also email your MP to share your support with Israel. You can do this via We Believe in Israel: https://tinyurl.com/mr2rcbej
