Britain would discuss humanitarian pause in Gaza but not cease-fire — PM’s spokesperson

Palestinian rescuers remove the rubble of a building to recover residents in the aftermath of Israeli strikes on the Rafah refugee camp in the southern Gaza. (File/AFP)

• “A wholesale cease-fire would only serve to benefit Hamas,” Sunak’s spokesperson said

LONDON: Britain would discuss a humanitarian pause in the conflict in Gaza to facilitate aid shipments, but does not want a wholesale cease-fire as that would only benefit Hamas militants, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s spokesperson said on Wednesday.
Israel’s military intensified its bombing of southern Gaza overnight, amid international calls for a pause in fighting to let aid into the Palestinian enclave and prevent many more deaths.
“A wholesale cease-fire would only serve to benefit Hamas,” Sunak’s spokesperson said.
“Humanitarian pauses — which are temporary, which are limited in scope — can be an operational tool, and obviously that is something we could consider, and have been discussing.”
The spokesperson said the government did not agree with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres that the attacks by Hamas earlier this month “did not happen in a vacuum,” comments which have sparked an angry response from Israel.
“We don’t agree with that characterization that’s been put forward,” the spokesperson said of Guterres’ remarks but did not not call on him to resign.
“We are clear there is and can be no justification for Hamas’ barbaric terrorist attack.”