British intelligence is working rapidly to independently establish who was behind the blast in a hospital in Gaza that killed hundreds of Palestinians, British prime minister Rishi Sunak has said.
Mr Sunak urged British MPs not to “rush to judgment” on Wednesday as Israel and Hamas issued rival claims about the atrocity feared to have killed at least 500 at al Ahli.
Visiting Tel Aviv, US president Joe Biden appeared to side with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu by telling him it “appears as though it was done by the other team, not you”.
But Mr Sunak told the UK's House of Commons that he was unable to reveal the UK verdict after holding talks with the National Security Adviser and the Joint Intelligence Committee.
“We should not rush to judgment before we have all the facts on this awful situation,” he told Prime Minister’s Questions.
“Every member will know that the words we say here have an impact beyond the House.
“Our intelligence services have been rapidly analysing the evidence to independently establish the facts. We are not in a position at this point to say more than that.”
But he said they were working “at pace” while “co-operating and collaborating with our allies on this issue as we look to get to the bottom of the situation”.
The destruction of Al Ahli hospital is a devastating loss of human life.
The UK has been clear.
The protection of civilian life must come first.
The UK will work with our allies to find out what has happened and protect innocent civilians in Gaza.— James Cleverly🇬🇧 (@JamesCleverly) October 17, 2023
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Mr Sunak said the UK was continuing to press to get humanitarian aid into Gaza and is “working around the clock” to free the hostages taken by Hamas.
Up to 10 British citizens are feared to be among those seized by the militant group in the atrocity it unleashed on Israel on October 7th, with at least six others killed.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the UK must do everything to prevent a “humanitarian catastrophe” by pressing for medicines, food, fuel and water to get into Gaza immediately.
“International law must always be followed, Hamas are not the Palestinian people and the Palestinian people are not Hamas,” he said, after some in Labour raised concerns that his support for Israel’s response had been too absolute.
