Keir Starmer has condemned Israel’s strike on Qatar before a meeting with the Israeli president in London on Wednesday.
The UK prime minister said the military strike, which targeted Hamas leaders stationed in Doha, was a violation of Qatar’s sovereignty and risked “further escalation across the region”.
“The priority must be an immediate ceasefire, the release of hostages and a huge surge in aid into Gaza. This is the only solution towards long-lasting peace,” he said in a statement on X.
Israel’s military on Tuesday said it had “conducted a precise strike targeting the senior leadership of the Hamas terrorist organisation”.
Qatar, which has hosted negotiations between Israel and Hamas, condemned the attack as a “blatant violation of international law”. Hamas said six people had been killed but its top leadership, including the negotiations team, had survived.
No 10 denied having any prior knowledge of the attack, saying it was an “entirely independent operation”. White House officials have said the US was informed in advance of the strike.
Starmer held a call with the emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, on Tuesday night, where he condemned the Israeli strike and reiterated that it was a “flagrant violation of Qatar’s sovereignty”, according to the Downing Street readout.
Starmer is due to hold talks with Isaac Herzog in Downing Street on Wednesday, where he intends to raise Israel’s military action on Qatar as well as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
The prime minister has faced criticism over the Herzog visit, but government figures argue that achieving a ceasefire in Gaza and peace in the Middle East necessitates political engagement with Israel.
Some Labour backbenchers have said Starmer should not meet the Israeli delegation, arguing that it would send an ambiguous message about the UK’s position on the war. Sixty MPs and peers, including members of Labour, the Greens and the Scottish National party, have called on the government to deny Herzog entry to the UK to avoid any risk of complicity in genocide.
Downing Street has previously indicated that Benjamin Netanyahu faces arrest if he travels to the UK after the international criminal court issued an arrest warrant for him over alleged war crimes in Gaza.
Herzog, who is from a different political party to Netanyahu, has a more ceremonial role. He has previously clashed with Netanyahu over democratic and judicial changes but broadly backed the military campaign in Gaza.
The Israeli president has received attention for a statement in which he asserted that all Palestinians in Gaza were “unequivocally” responsible for the Hamas attack on 7 October 2023. “The entire [Palestinian] nation out there … is responsible. It is not true this rhetoric about civilians not aware, not involved,” he said in October 2023.
That statement was included in the international court of justice’s order of 26 January 2024, finding the right of Palestinians to be protected from genocide was at “imminent risk”, and saying Israel must ensure “with immediate effect” that its forces do not commit any of the acts prohibited by the genocide convention and to protect Gaza’s population from genocide.
Herzog has claimed that his statement was misrepresented by the ICJ in selectively quoting him. His visit to London on Wednesday and Thursday will be the first time a senior Israeli leader has been in the UK since a visit by the foreign affairs minister, Gideon Sa’ar, in the spring.
Starmer last met Herzog more than a year ago in Paris, shortly after he became prime minister.