Foreign Secretary James Cleverly has insisted the UK will maintain support for Britons trapped in Gaza, as he said it was proving “incredibly difficult” to open the Rafah border crossing into Egypt.
Speaking to Sky News’ Trevor Phillips On Sunday Morning programme, the cabinet minister also said that 10 was “not an unreasonable estimate” for the number of British hostages held by Hamas.
And Mr Cleverly warned protesters who displayed support for the militant group, designated a terror organisation in the UK, did not help the Palestinian people.
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He made his comments against the backdrop of the current Israel-Hamas war.
The conflict, which was sparked by the militant group launching a deadly assault from Gaza on Israel, has claimed thousands of lives on both sides.
Israeli forces have retaliated with airstrikes and ordered residents to evacuate to the south of the besieged enclave ahead of an imminent offensive to dismantle the insurgent network.
The US has been trying to broker a deal to reopen Egypt’s Rafah crossing with Gaza to allow foreigners to leave and humanitarian aid to be taken in.
The border was closed because of airstrikes early in the war.
Both Egypt and Jordan, which is next to the Israeli-occupied West Bank, have expressed concern about Palestinians being forced off their land where they want to build a future state.
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‘Were you afraid when you had to run for cover?’
On establishing a safe route out of Gaza for British citizens stuck in the territory, Mr Cleverly said: “I’ve spoken on a number of occasions with my Egyptian counterpart.
“We stay in very close coordination with the United States of America, with other friends in the region and of course with the Israeli government trying to coordinate a time window when the Rafah crossing can be opened so that people can leave.
“That is proving incredibly difficult.
“So I’m not able to say with any certainty when that crossing may be open.”
Mr Cleverly could not say when the Rafah crossing may open
He added: “This is very important for the British nationals in Gaza.
“We continue to support them, we continue to update them as much as we can through, text messaging and whatever other means is available.
“So we will keep supporting the British nationals in Gaza and we will keep working with the US, with the Israelis and others to try and bring this crossing into use.”
When pressed over whether the number of UK nationals being held captive by Hamas was 10, Mr Cleverly was reluctant to be drawn as the situation remained uncertain, but said: “That is not an unreasonable estimate of the kind of number of people that we’re talking about.”
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He also warned people against glorifying terrorism, after major marches across the UK in support of the Palestinian cause where some people in attendance appeared to openly support Hamas.
‘Glorifying terrorism no benefit to the Palestinian people’
Mr Cleverly said: “The point is about whether arrests may happen at all or whether they happen at the event or after the event. So I’m not going to drift into operational policing.
“I would remind people that being passionate about a better life for the Palestinian people is a passion that I share and indeed shared by Government.
“However, glorifying murder and terrorism is no benefit to the Palestinian people, just as Hamas are not friend to the Palestinian people.”
Mr Cleverly argued Hamas wanted to turn the conflict into a “war between the Muslim world and the wider world”, as he urged Israel to show restraint and discipline.
He said: “I have said it’s in Israel’s interest to avoid civilian casualties and Palestinian casualties because Hamas clearly wants to turn this into a wider Arab-Israeli war or indeed a war between the Muslim world and the wider world and none of us, including Israel, want that to be the case and so that’s why we do give that strong advice from a position of friendship.”
‘International law must prevail’
Labour’s shadow foreign secretary David Lammy also defended Israel’s right to tackle the insurgents and rescue hostages, pointing out the country faced “a huge existential crisis”.
But he told Phillips: “We must distinguish between Hamas, a terrorist group, and the Palestinian people.
“International law must prevail and that means that you have to minimise civilian casualties.”
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