British diplomacy chief David Cameron called on Israel to take a “more surgical, clinical and targeted approach” to the fight against Hamas on Tuesday after meeting his Italian counterpart Antonio Tajani in Rome.
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“What we ask of Israel is to recognize that it must minimize civilian casualties, respect international humanitarian law at all times and continue its campaign against Hamas with these two things in mind,” he told the press.
He pointed out that, according to Israelis, there were fewer civilian casualties in the southern Gaza Strip than in the north, and called on the Israel Defense Forces to make more efforts in this direction.
Mr Cameron and his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock wrote a joint article in the British weekly Sunday Times on Sunday calling for a “permanent ceasefire” in Gaza and saying that “too many civilians have been killed” in the conflict.
Asked about the permanent ceasefire, Cameron said on Tuesday that ending the fighting “is not sustainable if you end it permanently and Hamas continues to control even part of Gaza.”
“People say I want a ceasefire and a two-state solution. The two things cannot go together. “We cannot expect the Israelis to accept a two-state solution in which Hamas controls part of Palestine,” Cameron said.
“A permanent solution means that Hamas no longer poses a threat to Israel and is no longer able to do what it did on October 7,” the British diplomatic chief concluded.
At the same time, in London, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was pressed by a parliamentary committee to indicate whether he believed the Israeli response violated international law.
“Too many civilians are dying, of course too many civilians are dying. “That is not the same as saying that humanitarian law has been violated,” he said.
The “durable ceasefire” defended by the United Kingdom cannot be achieved “if Hamas is still holding hostages” and “if Hamas, whose stated goal is the destruction of Israel, is still able to operate “in tunnels and “To launch rocket attacks on Israel,” he added.
The war between Israel and Hamas was sparked by a bloody and unprecedented attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement on Israeli soil from the Gaza Strip on October 7th.
About 1,140 people, mostly civilians, were killed in that attack, according to an AFP count based on the latest official Israeli figures available. 250 people were forcibly taken to Gaza, around 100 of whom have since been released.
After the Oct. 7 attack, Israel vowed to “destroy Hamas,” shelling and besieging Palestinian territory and conducting a major ground operation since Oct. 27.
According to the Hamas Health Ministry, Israeli bombings killed more than 19,660 civilians, mostly women, children and teenagers.